THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

P.  Lennox  Tierney 


cxy. 


Aladdin  O'Brien 


Aladdin  O'Brien 


By 

Gouverneur  Morris 

Author  of  "Tom  Beauling" 


New  York 

The  Century  Co. 

1902 


Copyright,  1902,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 


Published  October,  7902 


THE  DEVI.'iNE  PRESS 


y\ 


TO 
MY  MOTHER 


Book 


1  It  was  many  and  many  a  year  ago, 

In  a  kingdom  by  the  sea, 
That  a  maiden  there  lived  whom  you  may  know 

By  the  name  of  Annabel  Lee. 
And  this  maiden  she  lived  with  no  other  thought 

Than  to  love  and  be  loved  by  me. 
I  was  a  child  and  she  was  a  child  " — 


ALADDIN  O'BRIEN 


i 


>T  was  on  the  way  home  from 
Sunday-school  that  Aladdin  had 
enticed  Margaret  to  the  forbid 
den  river.  She  was  not  sure  that  he  knew 
how  to  row,  for  he  was  prone  to  exagger 
ate  his  prowess  at  this  and  that,  and  she 
went  because  of  the  fine  defiance  of  it,  and 
because  Aladdin  exercised  an  irresistible 
fascination.  He  it  was  who  could  whistle 
the  most  engagingly  through  his  front 
teeth ;  and  he  it  was,  when  sad  dogs  of 
boys  of  the  world  were  met  behind  the 
barn,  who  could  blow  the  smoke  of  the 
fragrant  grape-vine  through  his  nose,  and 
swallow  the  same  without  alarm  to  him 
self  or  to  his  admirers.  To  be  with  him 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

was  in  itself  a  soulful  wickedness,  a  deli 
cious  and  elevating  lesson  in  corruption. 
But  to  be  with  him  when  he  had  done 
wrong,  and  was  sorry  for  it  (as  always 
when  found  out),  that  was  enough  to  give 
one  visions  of  freckled  angels,  and  the 
sweetness  of  Paradise  in  May. 

Aladdin  brought  the  skiff  into  the  float, 
stern  first,  with  a  bump.  Pride  sat  high 
upon  his  freckled  brow,  and  he  whistled 
piercing  notes. 

"  I  can  do  it,"  he  said.  "  Now  get  in." 
Margaret  embarked  very  gingerly  and 
smoothed  her  dress  carefully,  before  and 
after  sitting  down.  It  was  a  white 
and  starchy  dress  of  price,  with  little  blue 
ribbons  at  the  throat  and  wrists  —  such  a 
dress  as  the  little  girl  of  a  very  poor  papa 
will  find  laid  out  on  the  gilt  and  brocade 
chair  beside  her  bed  if  she  goes  to  sleep 
and  wakes  up  in  heaven. 

"  Only  a  little  way,  'Laddin,  please." 
The  boy  made   half  a   dozen   circular, 
jabbing  strokes,  and  the  skiff  zigzagged 
out  from  the  float.     It  was  a  fine  blue  day, 

4 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

cool  as  a  cucumber,  and  across  the  river 
from  the  deserted  shipyards,  where,  upon 
lofty  beamings,  stood  all  sorts  of  ships  in 
all  stages  of  composition,  the  frequent 
beeches  and  maples  showed  pink  and 
red  and  yellow  against  the  evergreen 
pines. 

"  It 's  easy  'nough,"  said  Aladdin.  And 
Margaret  agreed  in  her  mind,  for  it  is  the 
splash  of  deeds  rather  than  the  skill  or 
power  which  impresses  a  lady.  The  little 
lady  sat  primly  in  the  stern,  her  mitted 
paws  folded ;  her  eyes,  innocent  and  im 
mense,  fastened  admiringly  upon  the  row 
ing  boy. 

l<  Only  'bout  's  far  's  the  cat-boat,  'Lad- 
din,  please,"  she  said.  "  I  ought  n't  to 
of  come  't  all." 

Somehow  the  cat-boat,  anchored  fifty 
yards  out  and  straining  back  from  her 
moorings,  would  not  allow  herself  to  be 
approached.  For  although  Aladdin  main 
tained  a  proper  direction  (at  times),  the 
ocean  tide,  setting  rigidly  in  and  overbear 
ing  the  current  of  the  river,  was  beginning 

5 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

to  carry  the  skiff  to  some  haven  where  she 
would  not  be. 

Aladdin  saw  this  and  tried  to  go  back, 
catching  many  crabs  in  the  earnestness  of 
his  endeavor.  Then  the  little  girl,  with 
out  being  told,  perceived  that  matters 
were  not  entirely  in  the  hands  of  man, 
and  began  to  look  wistfully  from  Aladdin 
to  the  shore.  After  a  while  he  stopped 
grinning,  and  then  rowing. 

"Can't  you  get  back,  'Laddin ?"  said 
the  little  girl. 

"  No,"  said  the  boy,  "  I  can't."  He  was 
all  angel  now,  for  he  was  being  visited 
for  wrong. 

The  little  girl's  lips  trembled  and  got 
white. 

"  I  'm  awful  sorry,  Margaret." 

"  What  '11  we  do,  'Laddin  ?  " 

"  Just  sit  still,  'n'  whatever  happens  I  '11 
take  care  of  you,  Margaret." 

They  were  passing  the  shipyards  with 
a  steady  sweep,  but  the  offices  were  closed, 
the  men  at  home,  and  no  one  saw  the  dis 
tressed  expedition.  The  last  yard  of  all 
6 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

was  conspicuous  by  a  three-master,  fin 
ished,  painted,  sparred,  ready  for  the  fra 
grant  bottle  to  be  cracked  on  her  nose, 
and  the  long  shivering  slide  into  the  river. 
Then  came  a  fine  square,  chimneyed  house 
with  sherry-glass-shaped  elm-trees  about 
it.  The  boy  shouted  to  a  man  contorted 
under  a  load  of  wood.  The  man  looked 
up  and  grinned  vacantly,  for  he  was  not 
even  half-witted.  And  they  were  swept 
on.  Presently  woods  drew  between  them 
and  the  last  traces  of  habitation, —  gor 
geous  woods  with  intense  splashes  of 
color,  standing  upon  clean  rocks  that  em 
phatically  divided  the  water  from  the  land, 

—  and  they  scurried  into  a  region  as  un 
troubled  by  man  as  was  Eden  on  the  first 
morning.     The  little  boy  was  not  afraid, 
but  so  sorry  and  ashamed  that  he  could 
have  cried.     The  little  girl,  however,  was 
even  deeper  down  the  throat  of  remorse, 
for  she  had  sinned  three  times  on  Sunday, 

—  first,  she  had  spoken  to  the  "  inventor's 
boy  "  ;  second,  she  had  not  "  come  straight 
home  "  ;  third,  she  had  been  seduced  into  a 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

forbidden  boat, —  and  there  was  no  balm  in 
Gilead,  nor  any  forgiveness  forever.  She 
pictured  her  grand,  dark  father  standing 
like  a  biblical  allegory  of  "  Hell  and  Dam 
nation  "  within  the  somber  leathern  cube 
of  his  books,  the  fiercely  white,  whalebone 
cane  upon  which  he  and  old  brother  gout 
leaned,  and  the  vast  gloomy  centers  at 
the  bases  of  which  glowed  his  savage  eyes. 
She  thought  of  the  rolling  bitter  voice 
with  which  she  had  once  heard  him  stiffen 
the  backs  of  his  constituents,  and  she  was 
sore  afraid.  She  did  not  remember  how 
much  he  loved  her,  or  the  impotence  of  his 
principles  where  she  was  concerned.  And 
she  did  not  recollect,  for  she  had  not  been 
old  enough  to  know,  that  the  great  bitter 
voice,  with  its  heavy,  telling  sarcasm,  had 
been  lifted  for  humanity  —  for  more  hu 
manity  upon  earth. 

"  Oh,   'Laddin,"  she  said  suddenly,   "  I 
dare  n't  go  home  now." 

"  Maybe  we  can  get  her  in  farther  up," 
said  Aladdin,  "  and  go  home  through  the 
woods.     That  '11  be  something,  anyhow." 
8 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Margaret  shuddered.  She  thought  of 
the  thin  aunt  who  gave  her  lessons  upon 
the  pianoforte  —  one  of  the  elect,  that 
aunt,  who  had  never  done  wrong,  and 
whom  any  halo  would  fit ;  who  gave  her 
to  understand  that  the  Almighty  would 
raise  Cain  with  any  little  girl  who  did  not 
practise  an  hour  every  day,  and  pray  Him, 
night  and  morning,  to  help  her  keep  off 
the  black  notes  when  the  white  notes  were 
intended.  First  there  would  be  a  reck 
oning  with  papa,  then  one  with  Aunt 
Marion,  last  with  Almighty  God,  and 
afterward,  horribile  dictu,  pitchforks  for 
little  Margaret,  and  a  vivid  incandescent 
state  to  be  maintained  through  eternity  at 
vast  cost  of  pit-coal  to  a  gentleman  who 
carried  over  his  arm,  so  as  not  to  step  on 
it,  a  long  snaky  tail  with  a  point  like  a 
harpoon's. 

Meanwhile,  Aladdin  made  sundry  at 
tempts  to  get  the  boat  ashore,  and  failed 
signally.  The  current  was  as  saucy  as 
strong.  Now  it  swept  them  into  the  very 
shade  of  the  trees,  and  as  hope  rose  hot  in 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  boy's  heart  and  he  began  to  stab  the 
water  with  the  oars,  sent  them  skipping 
for  the  mid-river.  Occasionally  a  fish 
jumped  to  show  how  easy  it  was,  and  high 
overhead  an  eagle  passed  statelily  in  the 
wake  of  a  cloud.  After  the  eagle  came  a 
V  of  geese  flying  south,  moving  through 
the  treacherous  currents  and  whirlpools 
of  the  upper  air  as  steadily  and  directly  as 
a  train  upon  its  track.  It  seemed  as  if 
nature  had  conspired  with  her  children  to 
demonstrate  to  Margaret  and  Aladdin  the 
facility  of  precise  locomotion.  The  nar 
row  deeps  of  the  river  ended  where  the 
shore  rolled  into  a  high  knob  of  trees ; 
above  this  it  spread  over  the  lower  land 
into  a  great,  shallow,  swiftly  currented 
lake,  having  in  its  midst  a  long  turtle- 
backed  island  of  dense  woods  and  abrupt 
shores.  Two  currents  met  off  the  knob 
and  formed  in  the  direction  of  the  island 
a  long  curve  of  spitting  white.  Aladdin 
rowed  with  great  fervor. 

"  Do  it  if  you  can,  'Laddin,"  said  the 
little  girl. 

10 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

It  seemed  for  one  moment  as  if  success 
were  about  to  crown  the  boy's  effort,  for 
he  brought  the  boat  to  an  exciting  near 
ness  to  the  shore ;  but  that  was  all.  The 
current  said:  "No,  Aladdin,  that  is  not 
just  the  place  to  land ;  come  with  me, 
and  bring  the  boat  and  the  young  lady." 
And  Aladdin  at  once  went  with  the  cur 
rent. 

"  Margaret,"  he  said,  "  I  done  my  best." 
He  crossed  his  heart. 

"I  know  you  done  your  best,  'Lad- 
din."  Margaret's  cheeks  were  on  the 
brink  of  tears.  "I  know  you  done  it." 

They  were  dancing  sportively  farther 
and  farther  from  the  shore.  The  water 
broke,  now  and  again,  and  slapped  the 
boat  playfully. 

"  We  Ve  come  'most  three  miles,"  said 
Aladdin. 

"  I  dare  n't  go  back  if  I  could  now," 
said  Margaret. 

Meanwhile  Aladdin  scanned  the  horizon 
far  and  wide  to  see  if  he  could  see  any 
thing  of  Antheus,  tossed  by  the  winds,  or 
1 1 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  Phrygian  triremes,  or  Capys,  or  the 
ships  having  upon  their  lofty  poops  the 
arms  of  Caicus.  There  was  no  help  in 
sight.  Far  and  wide  was  the  bubbling 
ruffled  river,  behind  the  mainland,  and 
ahead  the  leafy  island. 

"  What  11  your  father  do,  'Laddin  ?  " 
Aladdin  merely  grinned,  less  by  way  of 
explaining  what  his  father  would  do  than 
of  expressing  to  Margaret  this:    "Have 
courage ;  I  am  still  with  you." 

"  'Laddin,  we  're  not  going  so  fast." 
They  had  run  into  nominally  still  water, 
and  the  skiff  was  losing  momentum. 

"  Maybe  we  'd  better  land  on  the  isl 
and,"  said  Aladdin,  "  if  we  can,  and  wait 
till  the  tide  turns  ;  won't  be  long  now." 

Again  he  plied  the  oars,  and  this  time 
with  success.  For  after  a  little  they  came 
into  the  shadow  of  the  island,  the  keel 
grunted  upon  sand,  and  they  got  out. 
There  was  a  little  crescent  of  white  beach, 
with  an  occasional  exclamatory  green  reed 
sticking  from  it,  and  above  was  a  fine 
arch  of  birch  and  pine.  They  hauled  up 

12 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  boat  as  far  as  they  could,  and  sat 
down  to  wait  for  the  tide  to  turn.  Firm 
earth,  in  spite  of  her  awful  spiritual  fore 
bodings,  put  Margaret  in  a  more  cheerful 
mood.  Furthermore,  the  woods  and  the 
general  mystery  of  islands  were  as  invit 
ing  as  Punch. 

"It  's  not  much  fun  watching  the  tide 
come  in,"  she  said  after  a  time. 

Aladdin  got  up. 

"Let  's  go  away,"  he  said,  "and  come 
back.  It  never  comes  in  if  you  watch  for 
it  to." 

Margaret  arose,  and  they  went  into  the 
woods. 

A  devil's  darning-needle  came  and 
buzzed  for  an  instant  on  the  bow  of  the 
skiff.  A  belated  sandpiper  flew  into  the 
cove,  peeped,  and  flew  out. 

The  tide  rose  a  little  and  said : 

"What  is  this  heavy  thing  upon  my 
back?" 

Then  it  rose  a  little  more. 

"Why,  it  's  poor  little  sister  boat  stuck 
in  the  mud,"  said  the  tide. 

13 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

From  far  off  came  joyful  crackling  of 
twigs  and  the  sounds  of  children  at  play. 

The  tide  rose  a  little  more  and  freed  an 
end  of  the  boat. 

"That's  better,"  said  the  boat,  "ever 
so  much  better.  I  can  almost  float." 

Again  the  tide  raised  its  broad  shoul 
ders  a  hair's-breadth. 

"  Great !  "  said  the  boat.  "  Once  more, 
Old  Party ! " 

When  the  children  came  back,  they 
found  that  poor  little  sister  boat  was  gone, 
and  in  her  stead  all  of  their  forgotten 
troubles  had  returned  and  were  waiting 
for  them,  and  looking  them  in  the  face. 


II 


|T  is  absurdly  difficult  to  get  help 
in  this  world.  If  a  lady  puts 
her  head  out  of  a  window  and 
yells  "  Police,"  she  is  considered  funny,  or 
if  a  man  from  the  very  bottom  of  his  soul 
calls  for  help,  he  is  commonly  supposed  to 
be  drunk.  Thus  if,  cast  away  upon  an 
island,  you  should  wave  your  handkerchief 
to  people  passing  in  a  boat,  they  would 
imagine  that  you  wanted  to  be  friendly, 
and  wave  back  ;  or,  if  they  were  New  York 
aldermen  out  for  a  day's  fishing  in  the 
Sound,  call  you  names.  And  so  it  was  with 
Margaret  and  Aladdin.  With  shrill  piping 
voices  they  called  tearfully  to  a  party  sail 
ing  up  the  river  from  church,  waved  and 
waved,  were  answered  in  kind,  and  tasted 
the  bitterest  cup  possible  to  the  Crusoed. 

15 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Then  after  much  wandering  in  search  of 
the  boat  it  got  to  be  hunger-time,  and  two 
small  stomachs  calling  lustily  for  food  did 
not  add  to  the  felicity  of  the  situation. 

With  hunger-time  came  dusk,  and  after 
ward  darkness,  blacker  than  the  tall  hat 
of  Margaret's  father.  For  at  the  last  mo 
ment  nature  had  thought  better  of  the 
fine  weather  which  man  had  been  enjoying 
for  the  past  month,  and  drawn  a  vast  cur 
tain  of  inkiness  over  the  luminaries  from 
one  horizon  even  unto  the  other,  and  sent 
a  great  puff  of  wet  fog  up  the  valley  of 
the  river  from  the  ocean,  so  that  teeth 
chattered  and  the  ends  of  fingers  became 
shriveled  and  bloodless.  And  had  not 
vanity  gone  out  with  the  entrance  of  sin, 
Margaret  would  have  noticed  that  her 
tight  little  curls  were  looser  and  the  once 
stately  ostrich  feather  upon  her  Sunday 
hat,  the  envy  of  little  girls  whom  the  green 
monster  possessed,  as  flabby  as  a  long 
sermon. 

Meanwhile  the  tide  having  turned,  little 
sister  boat  made  fine  way  of  it  down  the 
16 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

river,  and,  burrowing  in  the  fog,  holding 
her  breath  as  it  were,  and  greatly  assisted 
by  the  tide,  slipped  past  the  town  unseen, 
and  put  for  open  sea,  where  it  is  to  be 
supposed  she  enjoyed  herself  hugely  and, 
finally,  becoming  a  little  skeleton  of  her 
self  on  unknown  shores,  was  gathered  up 
by  somebody  who  wanted  a  pretty  fire 
with  green  lights  in  it.  The  main  point 
is  that  she  went  her  selfish  way  undetected, 
so  that  the  wide-lanterned  search  which 
presently  arose  for  little  Margaret  tum 
bled  and  stumbled  about  clueless,  and 
halted  to  take  drinks,  and  came  back  about 
morning  and  lay  down  all  day,  and  said  it 
never  did,  which  it  certainly  had  n't.  All 
the  to-do  was  over  Margaret,  for  Aladdin 
had  not  been  missed,  and,  even  if  he  had, 
nobody  would  have  looked  for  him.  His 
father  was  at  home  bending  over  the 
model  of  the  wonderful  lamp  which  was 
to  make  his  fortune,  and  over  which  he 
had  been  bending  for  fifteen  rolling  years. 
It  had  come  to  him,  at  about  the  time  that 
he  fell  in  love  with  Aladdin's  mother,  that 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

a  certain  worthless  biproduct  of  some 
thing  would,  if  combined  with  something 
else  and  steeped  in  water,  generate  a  cer 
tain  gas,  which,  though  desperately  explo 
sive,  would  burn  with  a  flame  as  white  as 
day.  Over  the  perfection  of  this  inven 
tion,  with  a  brief  honeymoon  for  vacation, 
he  had  spent  fifteen  years,  a  small  fortune, 
—  till  he  had  nothing  left, —  the  most  of  his 
health,  and  indeed  everything  but  his  con 
viction  that  it  was  a  beautiful  invention 
and  sure  of  success.  When  Aladdin  ar 
rived,  he  was  red  and  wrinkled,  after  the 
everlasting  fashion  of  the  human  babe, 
and  had  no  name,  so  because  of  the  won 
derful  lamp  they  called  him  Aladdin.  And 
that  rendered  his  first  school-days  wretched 
and  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  rest  of  his 
life,  after  the  everlasting  fashion  of  won 
derful  names.  Aladdin's  mother  went  out 
of  the  world  in  the  very  natural  act  of 
ushering  his  young  brother  into  it,  and  he 
remembered  her  as  a  thin  person  who  was 
not  strictly  honorable  (for,  having  betrayed 
him  with  a  kiss,  she  punished  him  for 
18 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

smoking)  and  had  a  headache.  So  there 
was  nobody  to  miss  Aladdin  or  to  waste 
the  valuable  night  in  looking  for  him. 

About  this  time  Margaret  began  to  cry 
and  Aladdin  to  comfort  her,  and  they 
stumbled  about  in  the  woods  trying  to 
find  —  anything.  After  a  while  they  hap 
pened  into  a  grassy  glade  between  two 
steep  rocks,  and  there  agreeing  to  rest, 
scrunched  into  a  depression  of  the  rock  on 
the  right.  And  Margaret,  her  nose  very 
red,  her  hat  at  an  angle,  and  her  head  on 
Aladdin's  shoulder,  sobbed  herself  to  sleep. 
And  then,  because  being  trusted  is  next 
to  being  God,  and  the  most  moving  and 
gentlest  condition  possible,  Aladdin,  for 
the  first  time,  felt  the  full  measure  of  his 
crime  in  leading  Margaret  from  the  straight 
way  home,  and  he  pressed  her  close  to 
him  and  stroked  her  draggled  hair  with 
his  cold  little  hands  and  cried.  When 
ever  she  moved  in  sleep,  his  heart  went 
out  to  her,  and  before  the  night  was  old 
he  loved  her  forever. 

Sleep  did   not   come  to  Aladdin,   who 

19 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

had  suddenly  become  a  father  and  a 
mother  and  a  nurse  and  a  brother  and  a 
lover  and  a  man  who  must  not  be  afraid. 
His  coat  was  wrapped  about  Margaret, 
and  his  arms  were  wrapped  about  his  coat, 
and  the  body  of  him  shivered  against  the 
damp,  cold  shirt,  which  would  come  open 
in  front  because  there  was  a  button  gone. 
The  fog  came  in  thicker  and  colder,  and 
night  with  her  strange  noises  moved 
slower  and  slower.  There  was  an  old 
loon  out  on  the  river,  who  would  suddenly 
throw  back  his  head  and  laugh  for  no  rea 
son  at  all.  And  once  a  great  strange  bird 
went  rushing  past,  squeaking  like  a  mouse; 
and  once  two  bright  eyes  came  flashing 
out  of  the  night  and  swung  this  way  and 
that  like  signal-lanterns  and  disappeared. 
Aladdin  gave  himself  up  for  lost  and  would 
have  screamed  if  he  had  been  alone. 

Presently  his  throat  began  to  tickle, 
then  the  base  of  his  nose,  then  the  bridge 
thereof,  and  then  he  felt  for  a  handker 
chief  and  found  none.  For  a  little  while 
he  maintained  the  proprieties  by  a  gentle 
20 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

sniffling,  finally  by  one  great  agonized 
snuff.  It  seemed  after  that  as  if  he  were 
to  be  left  in  peace.  But  no.  His  lips 
parted,  his  chin  went  up  a  little,  his  eyes 
closed,  the  tickling  gave  place  to  a  sudden 
imperative  ultimatum,  and,  when  all  was 
over,  Margaret  had  waked. 

They  talked  for  a  long  time,  for  she 
could  not  go  to  sleep  again,  and  Aladdin 
told  her  many  things  and  kept  her  from 
crying,  but  he  did  not  tell  her  about  the 
awful  bird  or  the  more  awful  eyes.  He 
told  her  about  his  little  brother,  and  the 
yellow  cat  they  had,  and  about  the  great 
city  where  he  had  once  lived,  and  why  he 
was  called  Aladdin.  And  when  the  real 
began  to  grow  dim,  he  told  her  stories  out 
of  strange  books  that  he  had  read,  as  he 
remembered  them  —  first  the  story  of 
Aladdin  and  then  others. 

"  Once,"  began  Aladdin,  though  his 
teeth  were  knocking  together  and  his 
arms  aching  and  his  nose  running — "once 
there  was  a  man  named  Ali  Baba,  and  he 
had  forty  thieves  —  " 
21 


Ill 


VEN  in  the  good  north  country, 
where  the  white  breath  of  the 
melting  icebergs  takes  turn  and 
turn  with  diamond  nights  and  days,  peo 
ple  did  not  remember  so  thick  a  fog ;  nor 
was  there  a  thicker  recorded  in  any  chap 
ter  of  tradition.  Indeed,  if  the  expression 
be  endurable,  so  black  was  the  whiteness 
that  it  was  difficult  to  know  when  morn 
ing  came.  There  was  a  fresher  shiver  in 
the  cold,  the  sensibility  that  tree-tops 
were  stirring,  a  filmy  distinction  of  objects 
near  at  hand,  and  the  possibility  that 
somewhere  'way  back  in  the  east  the  rosy 
fingers  of  dawn  were  spread  upon  a  clear 
horizon.  Collisions  between  ships  at 
sea  were  reported,  and  many  a  good 
sailorman  went  down  full  fathom  five  to 
22 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

wait  for  the  whistle  of  the   Great  Boat 
swain. 

The  little  children  on  the  island  roused 
themselves  and  groped  about  among  the 
chilled,  dripping  stems  of  the  trees ;  they 
had  no  end  in  view,  and  no  place  to  go, 
but  motion  was  necessary  for  the  lame 
legs  and  arms.  Margaret  had  caught  a 
frightful  cold  and  Aladdin  a  worse,  and 
they  were  hungrier  than  should  be  allowed. 
Now  a  jarred  tree  rained  water  down  their 
necks,  and  now  their  faces  went  with  a 
splash  and  sting  into  low-hanging  plumes 
of  leaves  ;  often  there  would  be  a  slip  and 
a  scrambling  fall.  And  by  the  time  Alad 
din  had  done  grimacing  over  a  banged 
shin,  Margaret  would  have  a  bruised  ankle- 
bone  to  cry  about.  The  poor  little  soul 
was  very  tired  and  penitent  and  cold  and 
hurt  and  hungry,  and  she  cried  most  of 
the  time  and  was  not  to  be  comforted. 
But  Aladdin  bit  his  lips  and  held  his  head 
up  and  said  it  all  would  be  well  sometime. 
Perhaps,  though  he  still  had  a  little  cour 
age  left,  Aladdin  was  the  more  to  be 

23 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

pitied  of  the  two :  he  was  not  only  desper 
ately  responsible  for  it  all,  but  full  of 
imagination  and  the  horrible  things  he 
had  read.  Margaret,  like  most  women, 
suffered  a  little  from  self-centration,  and 
to  her  the  trunk  of  a  birch  was  just  a 
nasty  old  wet  tree,  but  to  Aladdin  it  was 
the  clammy  limb  of  one  drowned,  and 
drawn  from  the  waters  to  stand  in  eternal 
unrest.  At  length  the  stumbling  progress 
brought  them  to  a  shore  of  the  island :  a 
slippery  ledge  of  rock,  past  whose  feet  the 
water  slipped  hurriedly,  steaming  with 
fog  as  if  it  had  been  hot,  two  big  leaning 
birches,  and  a  ruddy  mink  that  slipped 
like  winking  into  a  hole.  The  river,  evi 
dent  for  only  a  few  yards,  became  lost  in 
the  fog,  and  where  they  were  could  only 
be  guessed,  and  which  way  the  tide  was 
setting  could  only  be  learned  by  experi 
ment.  Aladdin  planted  a  twig  at  the 
precise  edge  of  the  water,  and  they  sat 
down  to  watch.  Stubbornly  and  unwill 
ingly  the  water  receded  from  the  twig,  and 
they  knew  that  the  tide  was  running  out. 
24 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"That  's  the  way  home,"  said  Aladdin. 

Margaret  looked  wistfully  down-stream, 
her  eyes  as  misty  as  the  fog. 

"  If  we  had  the  boat  we  could  go  now," 
said  Aladdin. 

Then  he  sat  moody,  evolving  enter 
prise,  and  neither  spoke  for  a  long  time. 

"Marg'ret,"  said  Aladdin,  at  length, 
"help  me  find  a  big  log  near  the  water." 

"  What  you  going  to  do,  'Laddin  ?  " 

"You  '11  see.     Help  look." 

They  crept  along  the  edge  of  the  island, 
now  among  the  close-growing  trees  and 
now  on  the  bare  strip  between  them  and 
the  water,  until  at  length  they  came  upon 
a  big  log,  lying  like  some  gnarled  am 
phibian  half  in  the  river  and  half  on  the 
dry  land. 

"  Help  push,"  said  Aladdin. 

They  could  move  it  only  a  little,  not 
enough. 

"Wait  till  I  get  a  lever,"  said  Aladdin. 
He  went,  and  came  back  with  a  long,  stiff 
little  birch,  that,  growing  recklessly  in  the 
thin  soil  over  a  rock,  had  been  willing  to 

25 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

yield  to  the  persuasion  of  a  child  and 
come  up  by  the  roots.  And  then,  Mar 
garet  pushing  her  best,  and  Aladdin  pry 
ing  and  grunting,  the  log  was  moved  to 
within  an  ace  of  launching.  Until  now, 
for  she  was  too  young  to  understand  about 
daring  and  unselfishness,  Margaret  had 
considered  the  log-launching  as  a  game 
invented  by  Aladdin  to -while  away  the 
dreary  time  ;  but  now  she  realized,  from  the 
look  in  the  pale,  set,  freckly,  almost  com 
ical  face  of  the  boy,  that  deeds  more 
serious  were  afoot,  and  when  he  said, 
"  Somebody  '11  pick  me  up,  sure,  Marg'ret, 
and  help  me  come  back  and  get  you,"  she 
broke  out  crying  afresh  and  said,  "  Don't, 
'Laddin  !  Do-o-on't,  'Laddin  !  " 

"Don't  cry,  Marg'ret,"  said  Aladdin, 
with  a  gulp.  "I  'd  do  more  'n  that  for 
you,  and  I  can  swim  a  little,  too — b-bet- 
ter  'n  I  can  row." 

"  Oh,  'Laddin,"  said  Margaret,  "  it  's  so 
cold  in  the  water." 

"  Shucks  !  "  said  Aladdin,  whose  teeth 
had  been  knocking  all  night.  "  She  's  the 
26 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

stanch  little  craft"  (he  had  the  phrase  of 
a  book)  "  Good  Luck.  I  'm  the  captain  and 
you're  the  builder's  daughter" — and  so 
she  was.  "  Chrissen  'er,  Marg'ret.  Kiss 
her  on  the  bow  an'  say  she  's  the  Good 
Luckr 

Then  Margaret,  her  hat  over  one  ear, 
and  the  draggled  ostrich  feather  greatly 
in  the  way,  knelt,  and  putting  her  arms 
about  the  shoreward  end  of  the  log,  kissed 
it,  and  said  in  a  drawn  little  voice : 

''The  Good  Luckr 

"And  now,  Margaret,"  said  Aladdin, 
"  you  must  stay  right  here  'n'  not  go  'way 
from  the  shore,  so  's  I  can  find  you  when 
I  come  back.  But  don't  just  sit  still  all 
the  time, —  keep  moving,  so  's  not  to  get 
any  colder, —  'n'  I  '11  come  back  for  you 
sure." 

Then,  because  he  felt  his  courage  failing, 
he  said,  "  Good-by,  Marg'ret,"  and  turning 
abruptly,  waded  in  to  his  ankles  and  bent 
over  the  log  to  give  it  that  final  impetus 
which  was  to  set  it  adrift.  In  his  heart 
were  several  things :  the  desire  to  make 
27 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

good,  fear  of  the  river,  and,  poignant  and 
bitter,  the  feeling  that  Margaret  did  not 
understand.  He  was  too  young  to  believe 
that  death  might  really  be  near  him  (al 
most  reckless  enough  not  to  care  if  he 
had),  but  keenly  aware  that  his  undertak 
ing  was  perilous  enough  to  warrant  a 
more  adequate  farewell.  So  he  bent  bit 
terly  over  the  log  and  stiffened  his  back 
for  the  heave.  It  must  be  owned  that 
Aladdin  wanted  more  of  a  scene. 

"'Laddin,  I  forgot  something.  Come 
back." 

He  came,  his  white  lips  drawn  into  a 
sort  of  smile.  Then  they  kissed  each 
other  on  the  mouth  with  the  loud,  innocent 
kiss  of  little  children,  and  after  that  Alad 
din  felt  that  the  river  was  only  a  river,  the 
cold  only  cold,  the  danger  only  danger 
and  flowers  —  more  than  flowers. 

He  moved  the  log  easily  and  waded 
with  it  into  the  icy  waters,  until  his  feet 
were  dragged  from  the  bottom,  and  after 
one  awful  instant  of  total  submersion  the 
stanch  little  ship  Good  Luck  and  valiant 
28 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Captain  Kissed-by-Margaret  were  em 
barked  on  the  voyage  perilous.  His  left 
arm  over  and  about  the  log,  his  legs  kick 
ing  lustily  like  the  legs  of  a  frog,  his  right 
hand  paddling  desperately  for  stability, 
Aladdin  disappeared  into  the  fog.  After 
a  few  minutes  he  became  so  freezing  cold 
that  he  would  have  let  go  and  drowned 
gladly  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  wonderful 
lamp  which  had  been  lighted  in  his  heart. 
Margaret,  when  she  saw  him  borne  from 
her  by  the  irresistible  current,  cried  out 
with  all  the  illogic  of  her  womanly  little 
soul,  "  Come  back,  'Laddin,  come  back ! " 
and  sank  sobbing  upon  the  empty  shore. 


IV 


^WEVER  imminent  the  peril  of 
the  man,  it  is  the  better  part  of 
chivalry  to  remain  by  the  dis 
tressed  lady,  and  though  impotent  to  be 
of  assistance,  we  must  linger  near  Mar 
garet,  and  watch  her  gradually  rise  from 
prone  sobbing  to  a  sitting  attitude  of  tears. 
For  a  long  time  she  sa{  crying  on  the 
empty  shore,  regarding  for  the  most  part 
black  life  and  not  at  all  the  signs  of  cheer 
ful  change  which  were  becoming  evident 
in  the  atmosphere  about  her.  The  cold 
breath  across  her  face  and  hands  and 
needling  through  her  shivering  body,  the 
increasing  sounds  of  tree-tops  in  commo 
tion,  the  recurring  appearance  of  branches 
where  before  had  been  only  an  opaque 
vault,  did  little  to  inform  her  that  the  fog 

30 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

was  about  to  lift.  The  rising  wind  merely 
made  her  the  more  miserable  and  alone. 
Nor  was  it  until  a  disk  of  gold  smote  sud 
denly  on  the  rock  before  her  that  she 
looked  up  and  beheld  a  twinkle  of  blue 
sky.  The  fog  puffed  across  the  blue,  the 
blue  looked  down  again, —  a  bigger  eye 
than  before, —  a  wisp  of  fog  filmed  it  again, 
and  again  it  gleamed  out,  ever  larger  and 
always  more  blue.  The  good  wind  living 
far  to  the  south  had  heard  that  in  a  few 
days  a  little  girl  was  to  be  alone  and 
comfortless  upon  a  foggy  island,  and, 
hearing,  had  filled  his  vast  chest  with 
warmth  and  sunshine,  and  puffed  out  his 
merry  cheeks  and  blown.  The  great 
breath  sent  the  blue  waves  thundering 
upon  the  coral  beaches  of  Florida,  tore 
across  the  forests  of  palm  and  set  them 
all  waving  hilariously,  shook  the  merry 
orange-trees  till  they  rattled,  whistled 
through  the  dismal  swamps  of  Georgia, 
swept,  calling  and  shouting  to  itself,  over 
the  Carolinas,  where  clouds  were  hatching 
in  men's  minds,  banked  up  the  waters  of 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  Chesapeake  so  that  there  was  a  great 
high  tide  and  the  ducks  were  sent  scud 
ding  to  the  decoys  of  the  nearest  gunner, 
went  roaring  into  the  oaks  and  hickories 
of  New  York,  warmed  the  veins  of  New 
England  fruit-trees,  and  finally  coming  to 
the  giant  fog,  rent  it  apart  by  handfuls  as 
you  pluck  feathers  from  a  goose,  and 
hurled  it  this  way  and  that,  until  once 
more  the  sky  and  land  could  look  each 
other  in  the  face.  Then  the  great  wind 
laughed  and  ceased. 

For  a  long  time  Margaret  looked  down 
the  cleared  face  of  the  river,  but  there  was 
no  trace  of  Aladdin,  and  in  life  but  one 
comfort :  the  sun  was  hot  and  she  was 
getting  warm. 

After  a  time,  in  the  woods  directly  be 
hind  where  she  sat  hoping  and  fearing 
and  trying  to  dry  her  tears,  a  gun  sounded 
like  an  exclamation  of  hope.  Had  Alad 
din  by  any  incredible  circumstance  re 
turned  so  soon  ?  Mindful  of  his  warning 
not  to  stray  from  where  she  was,  Margaret 
stood  up  and  called  in  a  shrill  little  voice : 

32 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Here  I  am  !     Here  I  am  !  " 

Silence  in  the  woods  immediately  be 
hind  where  Margaret  stood  hoping  and 
fearing ! 

"  Here  I  am  !"  she  cried.  And  it  had 
been  piteous  to  hear,  so  small  and  shrill 
was  the  voice. 

Presently,  though  much  farther  off, 
sounded  the  merry  yapping  bark  of  a  little 
dog,  and  again,  but  this  time  like  an  echo 
of  itself,  the  exclamation  of  hope  —  hope 
deferred. 

"Here  I  am!  Here  —  I — am!"  called 
Margaret. 

Then  there  was  a  long  silence — so  long 
that  it  seemed  as  if  nothing  in  the  world 
could  have  been  so  long.  Margaret  sat 
down  gasping.  The  sun  rose  higher,  the 
river  ran  on,  and  hope  flew  away.  And 
just  as  hope  had  gone  for  good,  the  merry 
yapping  of  the  dog  broke  out  so  near  that 
Margaret  jumped,  and  bang  went  the  gun 
—  like  a  promise  of  salvation.  Instantly 
she  was  on  her  feet  with  her  shrill, 

"  Here  I  am  !     Here  I  am  !  " 

3  33 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

And  this  time  came  back  a  lusty  young 
voice  crying : 

"  I  'm  coming  !  " 

And  hard  behind  the  voice  leaves  shook, 
and  a  boy  came  striding  into  the  sunlight. 
In  one  hand  he  trailed  a  gun,  and  at  his 
heels  trotted  a  waggish  spaniel  of  immense 
importance  and  infinitesimal  size.  In  his 
other  hand  the  boy  carried  by  the  legs  a 
splendid  cock-grouse,  rufHed  and  hunger- 
compelling.  The  boy,  perhaps  two  years 
older  than  Aladdin,  was  big  and  strong 
for  his  age,  and  bore  his  shining  head  like 
a  young  wood-god. 

Margaret  ran  to  him,  telling  her  story 
as  she  went,  but  so  incoherently  that  when 
she  reached  him  she  had  to  stop  and 
begin  over  again. 

"  Then  Senator  St.  John  is  your  father?" 
said  the  boy  at  length.  "  You  know,  he 's 
a  great  friend  of  my  father's.  My  father's 
name  is  Peter  Manners,  and  he  used  to  be 
a  congressman  for  New  York.  Are  you 
hungry?" 

Margaret  could  only  look  it. 

34 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

They  sat  down,  and  the  boy  took  won 
derful  things  out  of  his  wonderful  pockets — 
sandwiches  of  egg  and  sandwiches  of  jam; 
and  Margaret  fell  to. 

"  I  live  in  New  York,"  said  the  boy, 
"but  I  'm  staying  with  my  cousins  up  the 
river.  They  told  me  there  were  partridges 
on  this  island,  and  I  rowed  down  to  try 
and  get  some,  but  I  missed  two." 

The  boy  blushed  most  becomingly  when 
ever  he  spoke,  and  his  voice,  and  the  way 
he  said  words,  were  different  from  any 
thing  Margaret  had  ever  heard.  And  she 
admired  him  tremendously.  And  the  boy, 
because  she  had  spent  a  night  on  a  desert 
island,  which  he  never  had,  admired  her 
in  turn. 

"  Maybe  we  '11  find  'Laddin  on  the  way," 
said  Margaret,  cheerfully,  and  she  looked 
up  with  great  eyes  at  her  godlike  young 
friend. 


35 


V 


'EANWHILE  to  Aladdin  and  his 
log  divers  things  had  occurred, 
but  the  wonderful  lamp,  burning 
low  or  high  at  the  will  of  the  river,  had 
not  gone  out.  Sliding  through  the  smok 
ing  fog  at  three  miles  an  hour,  kicking 
and  paddling,  all  had  gone  well  for  a 
while.  Then,  for  he  was  more  keen  than 
Margaret  to  note  the  fog's  promise  to  lift, 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  shores  be 
gan  to  appear  and  mark  his  course  as 
favorable,  at  the  very  moment  when  the 
sun  struck  one  end  of  the  log,  an  eddy  of 
the  current  struck  the  other,  and  sent  the 
stanch  little  craft  Good  Luck  and  her  cap 
tain  by  a  wide  curve  back  up  the  river. 
The  backward  journey  was  slow  and  tor 
tuous,  and  twice  when  the  Good  Luck 

36 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

turned  turtle,  submerging  Aladdin,  he 
gave  himself  up  for  lost ;  but  amidships 
of  the  island,  fairly  opposite  to  the  spot 
where  he  had  left  Margaret,  the  log  was 
again  seized  by  the  right  current,  and  the 
voyage  recommenced.  But  the  same  eddy 
seized  them,  and  back  they  came,  with 
only  an  arm  stiffened  by  cold  between 
Aladdin  and  death.  The  third  descent  of 
the  river,  however,  was  more  propitious. 
The  eddy,  it  is  true,  made  a  final  snatch, 
but  its  fingers  were  weakened  and  its 
murderous  intentions  thwarted.  They 
passed  by  the  knob  of  trees  at  the  narrow 
ing  of  the  river,  and  swept  grandly  toward 
the  town.  Past  the  first  shipyard  they 
tore  unnoticed,  but  at  the  second  a  shout 
ing  arose,  and  a  boat  was  slipped  overboard 
and  put  after  them.  Strong  hands  dragged 
Aladdin  from  the  water,  and,  gulp  after 
gulp,  water  gushed  from  his  mouth.  Then 
they  rowed  him  quickly  to  land,  and  the 
Good  Luck,  having  done  her  duty,  went 
down  the  river  alone.  Years  after,  could 
Aladdin  have  met  with  that  log,  he  would 

37 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

have  recognized  it  like  the  face  of  a  friend, 
and  would  have  embraced  and  kissed  it, 
painted  it  white  to  stave  off  the  decay  of 
old  age,  and  set  it  foremost  among  his 
Lares  and  Penates. 

For  the  present  he  was  insensible. 
They  put  him  naked  into  coarse,  warm 
horse-blankets,  and  laid  him  before  the 
great  fire  in  the  blacksmith's  shop  across 
the  road  from  the  shipyard.  And  at  the 
same  time  they  sent  one  flying  with  a 
horse  and  buggy  to  the  house  of  Hannibal 
St.  John,  for  Aladdin  had  not  passed  into 
unconsciousness  without  partly  complet 
ing  his  mission. 

"  Margaret  —  is  —  up  —  at  — "  he  said, 
and  darkness  came. 

At  the  moment  when  Aladdin  came  to, 
the  door  of  the  smithy  was  darkened  by 
the  tremendous  figure  of  Hannibal  St. 
John.  Wrapped  in  his  long  black  cloak, 
fastened  at  the  throat  by  three  links  of 
steel  chain,  his  face  glowering  and  cavern 
ous,  the  great  man  strode  like  a  controlled 
storm  through  the  awed  underlings  and 
stopped  rigid  at  Aladdin's  side. 

38 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Can  the  boy  speak  ?  "  he  said. 

To  Aladdin,  looking  up,  there  was  nei 
ther  pity  nor  mercy  apparent  in  the  sena 
tor's  face,  and  a  great  fear  shook  him. 
Would  the  wrath  descend  ? 

"  Do  you  know  where  my  daughter  is  ?  " 

The  great  rolling  voice  nearly  broke 
between  the  "my"  and  the  "daughter," 
and  the  fear  left  Aladdin. 

"Mister  St.  John,"  he  said,  "she  's  up 
at  one  of  the  islands.  We  went  in  a  boat 
and  could  n't  get  back.  If  you  '11  only 
get  a  boat  and  some  one  to  row,  I  can  take 
you  right  to  her."  Then  Aladdin  knew 
that  he  had  not  said  all  there  was  to  say. 
"Mister  St.  John,"  said  Aladdin,  "I  done 
it  all." 

Men  ran  out  of  the  smithy  to  prepare  a 
boat. 

"Who  is  this  boy ?  "  said  St.  John. 

"  It  's  Aladdin  O'Brien,  the  inventor's 
boy,"  said  the  smith. 

"  Are  you  strong  enough  to  go  with 
me,  O'Brien  ?  "  said  the  senator. 

"Yes,  sir;  I  Ve  got  to  go,"  said  Alad 
din.  "  I  said  I  'd  come  back  for  her." 

39 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Give  him  some  whisky,"  said  St.  John, 
in  the  voice  of  Jupiter  saying  "  Poison 
him,"  "and  wrap  him  up  warm,  and  bring 
him  along." 

They  embarked.  Aladdin,  cuddled  in 
blankets,  was  laid  in  the  bow,  St.  John, 
not  deigning  to  sit,  stood  like  a  black  tree- 
trunk  in  the  stern,  and  amidships  were 
four  men  to  row. 

A  little  distance  up  the  river  they  met 
a  boat  coming  down.  In  the  stern  sat 
Margaret,  and  at  the  oars  her  godlike 
young  friend.  Just  over  the  bow  ap 
peared  the  snout  and  merry  eyes  of  the 
spaniel,  one  of  his  delightful  ears  hanging 
over  on  each  side. 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you  alive,"  said  St. 
John  to  Margaret  when  the  boats  were 
within  hailing  distance,  and  to  her  friend 
he  said,  "  Since  you  have  brought  her  so 
far,  be  good  enough  to  bring  her  the  rest 
of  the  way."  And  to  his  own  rowers  he 
said,  "  Go  back." 

When  the  boats  came  to  land  at  the 
shipyard,  Margaret's  father  lifted  her  out 
40 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  kissed  her  once  on  each  cheek.  Of 
the  godlike  boy  he  asked  his  name,  and 
when  he  learned  that  it  was  Peter  Man 
ners  and  that  his  father  was  Peter  Man 
ners,  he  almost  smiled,  and  he  shook  the 
boy's  hand. 

"  I  will  send  word  to  your  cousins  up 
the  river  that  you  are  with  me,"  he  said, 
and  thus  was  the  invitation  extended  and 
accepted. 

"  O'Brien,"  said  the  great  man  to  Alad 
din,  "  when  you  feel  able,  come  to  my 
house;  I  have  something  to  say  to  you." 

Then  Senator  St.  John,  and  Margaret, 
and  Margaret's  godlike  young  friend,  and 
the  spaniel  got  into  the  carriage  that  was 
waiting  for  them,  and  drove  off.  But 
Margaret  turned  and  waved  to  Aladdin. 

"  Good-by,  Aladdin  !  "  she  called. 


VI 


>HEY  helped  Aladdin  back  to  the 
smithy,  for  his  only  covering  was 
a  clumsy  blanket ;  and  there  he 
put  on  his  shrunken  clothes,  which  mean 
while  had  dried.  The  kindly  men  pressed 
food  on  him,  but  he  could  not  eat.  He 
could  only  sit  blankly  by  the  fire  and 
nurse  the  numb,  overpowering  pain  in  his 
heart.  Another  had  succeeded  where  he 
had  failed.  Even  at  parting,  just  now, 
Margaret's  eyes  had  not  been  for  him,  but 
for  the  stranger  who  had  done  so  easily 
what  he  had  not  been  able  to  do  at  all. 
The  voyage  down  the  river  had  been 
mere  foolishness  without  result.  He  had 
not  rescued  his  fair  lady,  but  deserted  her 
upon  a  desert  island.  For  him  no  bou 
quets  were  flung,  nor  was  there  to  be  any 
42 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

clapping  of  hands.  After  a  time  he  rose 
like  one  dreaming,  and  went  slowly,  for 
he  was  sick  and  weak,  up  to  the  great 
pillared  house  of  Hannibal  St.  John.  The 
senator  in  that  stern  voice  of  his  had  bade 
him  come;  nothing  could  be  any  worse 
than  it  was.  He  would  go.  He  knocked, 
and  they  showed  him  into  the  library.  It 
was  four  walls  of  leather  books,  an  oak 
table  neater  than  a  pin,  a  huge  chair 
covered  with  horsehair  much  worn,  and  a 
blazing  fire  of  birch  logs.  Before  the  fire, 
one  hand  thrust  into  his  coat,  the  other 
resting  somewhat  heavily  upon  the  head 
of  a  whalebone  cane,  stood  the  senator. 
Far  off"  Aladdin  heard  Margaret's  laugh 
and  with  it  another  young  laugh.  Then 
he  looked  up  like  a  little  hunted  thing 
into  the  senator's  smoldering  eyes. 

"Sit  down  in  that  chair,"  said  the  sena 
tor,  pointing  with  his  cane  to  the  only 
chair  in  the  room.  His  voice  had  the 
effect  of  a  strong  muscular  compulsion  to 
which  men  at  once  yielded.  Aladdin  sat 
into  the  big  chair,  his  toes  swinging  just 

43 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

clear  of  the  ground.  Then  there  was 
silence.  Aladdin  broke  it. 

"  Is  Margaret  all  right?  "  he  gulped. 

The  senator  disregarded  the  question. 
Having  chosen  his  words,  he  said  them. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  he  began,  "  what  my 
daughter  was  doing  in  a  boat  with  you. 
I  do  not  object  to  her  enjoying  the  society 
at  proper  times  of  suitable  companions  of 
her  own  age,  but  the  society  of  those  who 
lead  her  into  temptation  is  not  suitable." 
Aladdin  fairly  wilted  under  the  glowering 
voice.  "  You  will  not  be  allowed  to  asso 
ciate  with  her  any  more,"  said  the  senator. 
"  I  will  speak  to  your  father  and  see  that 
he  forbids  it." 

Aladdin  climbed  out  of  the  chair,  and 
stumbled  blindly  into  the  table.  He  had 
meant  to  find  the  door  and  go. 

"Wait;  I  have  not  done,"  said  the 
senator. 

Aladdin  turned  and  faced  the  enemy 
who  was  taking  away  the  joy  of  life  from 
him. 

"  In  trying  to  atone  for  your  fault,"  said 

44 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  senator,  <(  by  imperiling  your  life,  you 
did  at  once  a  foolhardy  and  a  fine  thing  — 
one  which  I  will  do  my  best  to  repay  at 
any  time  that  you  may  see  fit  to  call  upon 
me.  For  the  present  you  may  find  this 
of  use."  He  held  forward  between  his 
thumb  and  forefinger  a  twenty-dollar  gold 
piece.  Aladdin  groped  for  words,  and 
remembered  a  phrase  which  he  had  heard 
his  own  father  return  to  a  tormentor.  He 
thrust  his  red  hands  into  his  tight  pockets, 
and  with  trembling  lips  looked  up. 

"  It  's  a  matter  of  pride,"  he  said,  and 
walked  out  of  the  room. 

When  he  had  gone  the  senator  took 
from  his  pocket  a  leather  purse,  opened  it, 
put  back  the  gold  piece,  and  carefully  tied 
the  string.  Then  far  from  any  known 
key  or  tune  the  great  man  whistled  a  few 
notes.  Could  his  constituents  have  heard, 
they  would  have  known  —  and  often  had 
the  subject  been  debated  —  that  Hannibal 
St.  John  was  human. 

Aladdin  stood  for  a  while  upon  the  lofty 
pillared  portico  of  the  senator's  house,  and 

45 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

with  a  mist  in  his  eyes  looked  away  and 
away  to  where  the  cause  of  all  his  troubles 
flowed  like  a  ribbon  of  silver  through  the 
bright-colored  land.  Grown  men,  having, 
in  their  whole  lives,  suffered  less  than 
Aladdin  was  at  that  moment  suffering, 
have  considered  themselves  heartbroken. 
The  little  boy  shivered  and  toiled  down 
the  steps,  between  the  tall  box  hedges 
lining  the  path,  and  out  into  the  road.  A 
late  rose  leaning  over  the  garden  fence 
gave  up  her  leaves  in  a  pink  shower  as  he 
passed,  and  at  the  same  instant  all  the 
glass  in  a  window  of  the  house  opposite 
fell  out  with  a  smash.  These  events 
seemed  perfectly  natural  to  Aladdin,  but 
when  people,  talking  at  the  tops  of  their 
voices  and  gesticulating,  began  to  run  out 
of  houses  and  make  down  the  hill  toward 
the  town,  he  remembered  that,  just  as  the 
rose-leaves  fell  and  just  as  the  glass  came 
out  of  the  window-frame,  he  had  been  con 
scious  of  a  distant  thudding  boom,  and  a 
jarring  of  the  ground  under  his  feet.  So 
he  joined  in  the  stream  of  his  neighbors, 
46 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  ran  with  them  down  the  hill  to  see 
what  had  happened. 

Aladdin  remembered  little  of  that  breath 
less  run,  and  one  thing  only  stood  ever 
afterward  vivid  among  his  recollections. 
All  the  people  were  headed  eagerly  in 
one  direction,  but  at  the  corner  of  the 
street  in  which  Aladdin  lived,  an  awkish, 
half-grown  girl,  her  face  contorted  with 
terror,  struggled  against  the  tugging  of 
two  younger  companions  and  screamed  in 
a  terrible  voice : 

"  I  don't  wahnt  to  go  !  I  don't  wahnt 
to  go ! " 

But  they  dragged  her  along.  That 
girl  had  no  father,  and  her  mother  walked 
the  streets.  She  would  never  have  any 
beauty  nor  any  grace ;  she  was  dirt  of  the 
dirt,  dirty,  but  she  had  a  heart  of  mercy 
and  could  not  bear  to  look  upon  suffering. 

"  I  don't  wahnt  to  go  !  I  don't  wahnt 
to  go  !  "  and  now  the  scream  was  a  shudder. 

Aladdin's  street  was  crowded  to  suffo 
cation,  and  the  front  of  the  house  where 
Aladdin  lived  was  blown  out,  and  men 

47 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

with  grave  faces  were  going  about  among 
the  ruins  looking  for  what  was  left  of 
Aladdin's  father. 

A  much  littler  boy  than  Aladdin  stood 
in  the  yard  of  the  house.  In  his  arms 
folded  high  he  clutched  a  yellow  cat,  who 
licked  his  cheek  with  her  rough  tongue. 
The  littler  boy  kept  crying,  "  'Laddin, 
'Laddin  ! " 

Aladdin  took  the  little  boy  and  the  yel 
low  cat  all  into  one  embrace,  and  people 
turned  away  their  heads. 


VII 

N  the  ensuing  two  days  Aladdin 
matured  enormously,  for  though 
a  kind  neighbor  took  him  in,  to 
gether  with  his  brother  Jack  and  the  yel 
low  cat,  he  had  suffered  many  things  and 
already  sniffed  the  wolf  at  the  door.  The 
kind  neighbor  was  a  widow  lady,  whose 
husband,  having  been  a  master  carpenter  of 
retentive  habits,  had  left  her  independently 
rich.  She  owned  the  white-and-green 
house  in  which  she  lived,  the  plot  of 
ground,  including  a  small  front  and  a 
small  back  yard,  upon  which  it  stood,  and 
she  spent  with  some  splendor  a  certain 
income  of  three  hundred  and  eighty-two 
dollars  a  year.  Every  picture,  every  chair, 
every  mantelpiece  in  the  Widow  Brackett's 
house  was  draped  with  a  silk  scarf.  The 

4  49 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

parlor  lamp  had  a  glass  shade  upon  which, 
painted  in  oils,  by  hand,  were  crimson 
moss-roses  and  scarlet  poppies.  A  crushed 
plush  spring  rocker  had  goldenrod  painted 
on  back  and  seat,  while  two  white-and- 
gold  vases  in  precise  positions  on  the 
mantel  were  filled  with  tight  round  bunches 
of  immortelles,  stained  pink.  Upon  the 
marble-topped,  carved-by-machine- wal 
nut-legged  table  in  the  bay-window  were 
things  to  be  taken  up  by  a  visitor  and  ex 
amined.  A  white  plate  with  a  spreading 
of  foreign  postage-stamps,  such  as  any 
boy  collector  has  in  quantities  for  exchange, 
was  the  first  surprise :  you  were  supposed 
to  discover  that  the  stamps  were  not  real, 
but  painted  on  the  plate,  and  exclaim  about 
it.  A  china  basket  contained  most  edible- 
looking  fruit  of  the  same  material,  and  a 
huge  album,  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  family  Bible  upon  which  it  rested, 
was  filled  with  speaking  likenesses  of  the 
Widow  Brackett's  relatives.  The  Bible 
beneath  could  have  told  when  each  was 
born,  when  many  had  died,  and  where 

50 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

many  were  buried.  But  nobody  was  ever 
allowed  to  look  into  the  Widow  Brackett's 
Bible  for  information  mundane  or  spiritual, 
since  the  only  result  would  have  been 
showers  of  pressed  ferns  and  flowers  upon 
the  carpet,  which  was  not  without  well- 
pressed  flowers  and  ferns  of  its  own. 

Very  soon  after  the  explosion  ol  the 
wonderful  lamp  the  Widow  Brackett  had 
taken  Aladdin  and  Jack  and  the  cat  into 
her  house  and  seen  to  it  that  they  had  a 
square  meal.  Early  on  the  second  day 
she  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  it  could 
in  any  way  be  made  worth  her  while,  she 
would  like  to  keep  them  until  they  grew 
up.  And  when  the  ground  upon  which 
Aladdin's  father's  house  had  stood  was 
sold  at  auction  for  three  hundred  and  eight 
dollars,  she  let  it  be  known  that  if  she 
could  get  that  she  would  board  the  two 
little  waifs  until  Aladdin  was  old  enough 
to  work.  The  court  appointed  two  guar 
dians.  The  guardians  consulted  for  a  few 
minutes  over  something  brown  in  a  glass, 
and  promptly  turned  over  the  three  hun- 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

dred  and  eight  dollars  to  the  Widow 
Brackett ;  and  the  Widow  Brackett  almost 
as  promptly  made  a  few  alterations  in  the 
up-stairs  of  her  house  the  better  to  accom 
modate  the  orphans,  tied  a  dirty  white  rib 
bon  about  the  yellow  cat's  neck,  and  bought 
a  derelict  piano  upon  which  her  heart  had 
been  set  for  many  months.  She  was  no 
musician,  but  she  loved  a  tightly  closed 
piano  with  a  scarf  draped  over  the  top, 
and  thought  that  no  parlor  should  be  with 
out  one.  Up  to  middle  C,  as  Aladdin  in 
time  found  out,  the  piano  in  question  was 
not  without  musical  pretensions,  but  above 
that  any  chord  sounded  like  a  nest  of  tin 
plates  dropped  on  a  wooden  floor,  and  the 
intervals  were  those  of  no  known  scale  nor 
fragment  thereof.  But  in  time  he  learned 
to  draw  pleasant  things  from  the  old 
piano  and  to  accompany  his  shrill  voice  in 
song.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had  no  voice 
and  never  would  have,  but  almost  from 
the  first  he  knew  how  to  sing.  It  so  hap 
pened  that  he  was  drawn  to  the  piano  by 
a  singular  thing:  a  note  from  his  beloved. 

52 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

It  came  one  morning  thumb-marked  about 
the  sealing,  and  covered  with  the  generous 
sprawl  of  her  writing.  It  said  : 

DEAR  ALADDIN  :  Do  not  say  anything  about  this 
because  I  do  not  know  if  my  father  would  like  it  but 
I  am  so  sorry  about  your  father  blowing  up  and  all  your 
troubles  and  I  want  you  to  know  how  sory  I  am.  I 
must  stop  now  because  I  have  to  practis. 
Your  loving  friend 

MARGARET  ST.  JOHN. 

Aladdin  was  an  exquisite  speller,  and 
the  first  thing  he  noticed  about  the  letter 
was  that  it  contained  two  words  spelled 
wrong,  and  that  he  loved  Margaret  the 
better  by  two  misspelled  words,  and  that 
he  had  a  lump  in  his  throat. 

He  had  found  the  letter  by  his  plate  at 
breakfast,  and  the  eyes  of  Mrs.  Brackett 
fastened  upon  it. 

"  I  don't  know  who  ken  have  been 
writin'  to  you,"  she  said. 

"  Neither  do  I,"  said  Aladdin,  giving,  as 
is  proper,  the  direct  lie  to  the  remark  in 
quisitive.  He  had  put  the  letter  in  his 
pocket. 

53 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Why  don't  you  open  it  and  see?" 

Aladdin  blushed. 

"Time  enough  after  breakfast,"  he  said. 

There  was  a  silence. 

"  Jack  's  eatin'  his  breakfast ;  why  ain't 
you  eatin'  yours  ?  " 

Aladdin  fell  upon  his  breakfast  for  the 
sake  of  peace.  And  Mrs.  Brackett  said 
no  more.  Some  days  later,  for  she  was 
not  to  be  denied  in  little  matters  or  great, 
Mrs.  Brackett  found  where  Aladdin  had 
hidden  the  letter,  took  it  up,  read  it,  sniffed, 
and  put  it  back,  with  the  remark  that  she 
never  "  see  such  carryin's-on." 

Aladdin  hid,  and  read  his  letter  over 
and  over ;  then  an  ominous  silence  having 
informed  him  that  Mrs.  Brackett  had  gone 
abroad,  he  stole  into  the  parlor,  perched 
on  the  piano-stool,  and,  like  a  second 
Columbus,  began  to  discover  things  which 
other  people  have  to  be  shown.  The  joy 
of  his  soul  had  to  find  expression,  as  often 
afterward  the  sorrow  of  it. 

That  winter  Jack  entered  school  in  the 
lowest  class,  and  the  two  little  boys  were 

54 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

to  be  seen  going  or  coming  in  close  com 
radeship,  fair  weather  or  foul.  The  yellow 
cat  had  affairs  of  gallantry,  and  bore  to  the 
family,  at  about  Christmas-time,  five  yellow 
kittens,  which  nobody  had  the  heart  to 
drown,  and  about  whose  necks,  at  the  age 
of  eye-opening,  the  Widow  Brackett  tied 
little  white  ribbons  in  large  bows. 

Sometimes  Aladdin  saw  Margaret,  but 
only  for  a  little. 

So  the  years  passed,  and  Aladdin  turned 
his  sixteenth  year.  He  was  very  tall  and 
very  thin,  energetic  but  not  strong,  very 
clever,  but  with  less  application  than  an 
uncoerced  camel.  To  single  him  from 
other  boys,  he  was  full  of  music  and  visions. 
And  rhymes  were  beginning  to  ring  in  his 
head. 

A  week  came  when  the  rhymes  and  the 
music  went  clean  out  of  his  head,  which 
became  as  heavy  as  a  scuttle  full  of  coal, 
and  he  walked  about  heavily  like  an  old 
man. 


55 


VIII 

day,  during  the  morning  ses 
sion  of  school,  Aladdin's  head 
got  so  heavy  that  he  could  hardly 
see,  and  he  felt  hot  all  over.  He  spoke 
to  the  teacher  and  was  allowed  to  go 
home.  Mrs.  Brackett,  when  she  saw  him 
enter  the  yard,  was  in  great  alarm,  for  she 
at  once  supposed  that  he  had  done  some 
thing  awful,  which  was  not  out  of  the 
question,  and  suffered  expulsion. 

"What  have  you  done?"  she  said. 

"Nothing,"  said  Aladdin.  "I  think 
I  'm  going  to  be  sick." 

Mrs.  Brackett  tossed  her  hands  heaven 
ward. 

"  What  is  the  matter? "  she  cried. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Aladdin.  She 
followed  him  into  the  house  and  up  the 
stairs,  which  he  climbed  heavily. 

56 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Where  do  you  feel  bad,  'Laddin 
O'Brien  ?  "  she  said  sharply. 

"It  's  my  head,  ma'am,"  said  Aladdin. 
He  went  into  his  room  and  lay  face  down 
on  the  bed,  having  first  dropped  his  school- 
books  on  the  floor,  and  began  to  talk 
fluently  of  kings'  daughters  and  genii  and 
copper  bottles. 

The  Widow  Brackett  was  an  active 
woman  of  action.  Flat-footed  and  hatless, 
but  with  incredible  speed,  she  dashed 
down  the  stairs,  out  of  the  house,  and  up 
the  street.  She  returned  in  five  minutes 
with  the  doctor. 

The  doctor  said,  "  Fever."  It  was  quite 
evident  that  it  was  fever ;  but  a  doctor's 
word  for  it  put  everything  on  a  comfort 
able  and  satisfactory  footing. 

"We  must  get  him  to  bed,"  said  the 
doctor.  He  made  the  attempt  alone,  but 
Aladdin  struggled,  and  the  doctor  was  old. 
Mrs.  Brackett  came  to  the  rescue  and, 
finally,  they  got  Aladdin,  no  longer  vio 
lent,  into  his  bed,  while  the  doctor,  in  a 
soft  voice,  said  what  maybe  it  was  and 

57 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

what  maybe  it  was  n't, —  he  leaned  to  a 
bilious  fever, —  and  prescribed  this  and 
that  as  sovereign  in  any  case.  They 
darkened  the  room,  and  Aladdin  was  sick 
with  typhoid  fever  for  many  weeks.  He 
was  delirious  much  too  much,  and  Mrs. 
Brackett  got  thin  with  watching.  Occa 
sionally  it  seemed  as  if  he  might  possibly 
live,  but  oftenest  as  if  he  would  surely 
die. 

In  his  delirium  for  the  most  part  Alad 
din  dwelt  upon  Margaret,  so  that  his  love 
for  her  was  an  old  story  to  Mrs.  Brackett. 

One  gay  spring  morning,  after  a  terrible 
night,  Aladdin's  fever  cooled  a  little,  and 
he  was  able  to  talk  in  whispers. 

"Mrs.  Brackett,"  he  said,  "Mrs. 
Brackett." 

She  came  hurriedly  to  the  bed. 

"  I  know  you  're  feelin'  better,  'Laddin 
O'Brien." 

He  smiled  up  at  her. 

"Mrs.  Brackett,"  he  said,  "I  dreamed 
that  Margaret  St.  John  came  here  to  ask 
how  I  was  —  did  she  ?  " 

58 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Margaret  had  n't.  She  had  not,  so 
hedged  was  her  life,  even  heard  that  Alad 
din  lay  sick. 

Mrs.  Brackett  lied  nobly. 

"She  was  here  yesterday,"  she  said, 
"and  that  anxious  to  know  all  about 
you." 

Aladdin  looked  like  one  that  had  found 
peace. 

"Thank  you,"  he  said. 

Mrs.  Brackett  raised  his  head,  pillow 
and  all,  very  gently,  and  gave  him  his 
medicine. 

"  How  's  Jack?  "  said  Aladdin. 

"  He  comes  twice  every  day  to  ask 
about  you,"  said  Mrs.  Brackett.  "  He  's 
livin'  with  my  brother-in-law." 

"That  's  good"  said  Aladdin.  He  lay 
back  and  dozed.  After  a  while  he  opened 
his  eyes. 

"Mrs.  Brackett — " 

"  What  is  it,  deary  ?  "  The  good  wo, 
man  had  been  herself  on  the  point  of 
dozing,  but  was  instantly  alert. 

"Am  I  going  to  die?" 

59 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  You  goin'  to  die  !  "  She  tried  to  make 
her  voice  indignant,  but  it  broke. 

"  I  want  to  know." 

"  He  wants  to  know,  good  land  !  "  ex 
claimed  Mrs.  Brackett. 

"  If  a  man  's  going  to  die,"  said  Alad 
din,  setat-sixteen,  "he  wants  to  know,  be 
cause  he  has  things  that  have  to  be  done." 

"  Doctor  said  you  was  n't  to  talk  much," 
said  Mrs.  Brackett. 

"  If  I  Ve  got  to  die,"  said  Aladdin, 
abruptly,  "I  Ve  got  to  see  Margaret." 

A  woman  in  a  blue  wrapper,  muddy 
slippers,  her  gray  hair  disheveled,  hatless, 
her  eyes  bright  and  wild,  burst  suddenly 
upon  Hannibal  St.  John  where  he  sat  in 
his  library  reading  in  the  book  called 
"  Hesperides." 

"  Senator  St.  John,"  she  began  rapidly, 
"  Aladdin  O'Brien  's  sick  in  my  house,  and 
the  last  thing  he  said  was,  '  I  Ve  got  to 
see  Margaret ' ;  and  he  's  dyin'  wantin'  to 
see  her,  and  I  Ve  come  for  her,  and  she  's 
got  to  come." 

60 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

It  was  a  tribute  to  St.  John's  genius 
that  in  spite  of  her  incoherent  utterance 
he  understood  precisely  what  the  woman 
was  driving  at. 

"  You  say  he  's  dying  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Doctor  's  given  up  hope.  He  's  had 
a  relapse  since  this  mornin',  and  she  's 
got  to  come  right  now  if  she  's  to  see  him 
at  all." 

The  senator  hesitated  for  once. 

"  It  's  got  nothin'  to  do  with  the  pro 
prieties,"  said  Mrs.  Brackett,  sternly,  "nor 
what  he  was  to  her,  nor  her  to  him  ;  it 's  a 
plain  case  of  humanity  and  — " 

"What  is  the  nature  of  the  sickness?  " 
asked  the  senator. 

"It  's  fever—" 

"  Is  it  contagious?  "  asked  the  senator. 

"  No,  it  ain't !  "  almost  shrieked  the  old 
lady.  "  And  what  if  it  was  ?  " 

"  Of  course  if  it  were  contagious  she 
could  n't  go,"  said  the  senator. 

"  It  ain't  contagious,  and,  what  's  more, 
he  once  laid  down  his  life  for  her  on  the 
log,  that  time." 

61 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  If  you  assure  me  the  fever  is  not  con 
tagious  —  " 

"You  '11  let  her  come  —  " 

"It  seems  nonsense,"  said  the  senator. 
"  They  are  only  children,  and  I  don't  want 
her  to  get  silly  ideas." 

"  Only  children ! "  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Brackett.  "  Senator,  give  me  the  trou 
bles  of  the  grown-ups,  childbirth,  and 
losing  the  first-born  with  none  to  follow, 
the  losing  of  husband  and  mother,  and  the 
approach  of  old  age, —  give  me  them  and 
I  '11  bear  them,  but  spare  me  the  sorrows 
and  trials  of  little  children  which  we 
grown-ups  ain't  strong  enough  to  bear. 
You  can  say  I  said  so,"  she  finished  de 
fiantly. 

The  senator  bowed  in  agreement. 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,"  he  said.  "  I 
will  take  you  home  in  my  carriage, 
Mrs.  - 

"  Brackett,"  said  she,  with  pride. 

The  senator  stepped  into  the  hall  and 
raised  his  voice  the  least  trifle. 

"  Daughter ! " 

62 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

She  answered  from  several  rooms  away, 
and  came  running.  Her  hands  were  inky, 
and  she  held  a  letter.  She  was  no  longer 
the  timid  little  girl  of  the  island,  for  some 
how  that  escapade  had  emancipated  her. 
She  had  waited  for  a  few  days  in  expec 
tation  of  damnation,  but,  that  failing  to 
materialize,  had  turned  over  a  leaf  in  her 
character,  and  became  such  a  bully  at 
home  that  the  family  and  servants  loved 
her  more  and  more  from  day  to  day. 
She  was  fourteen  at  this  time ;  alto 
gether  exquisite  and  charming  and  way 
ward. 

"Aladdin  O'Brien  is  very  sick,  daugh 
ter,"  said  the  senator,  "and  we  are  going 
to  see  him." 

"And  don't  tell  him  that  you  did  n't 
come  to  ask  after  him  yesterday,"  said 
Mrs.  Brackett,  defiantly,  "because  I  said 
you  did.  I  had  my  reasons,"  she  went 
on,  "  and  you  can  say  I  said  so." 

Margaret  ran  up-stairs  to  get  her  hat 
She  was  almost  wild  with  excitement  and 
foreboding  of  she  knew  not  what. 

63 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

The  letter  which  she  had  been  writing 
fell  from  her  hand.  She  picked  it  up, 
looked  hastily  at  the  superscription,  "  Mr. 
Peter  Manners,  Jr.,"  and  tore  it  into 
pieces. 


64 


IX 


iHERE  is  no  doubt  that  Aladdin's 
recovery  dated  from  Margaret's 
visit.  The  poor  boy  was  too 
sick  to  say  what  he  had  planned,  but 
Margaret  sat  by  his  bed  for  a  while  and 
held  his  hand,  and  said  little  abrupt  con 
ventional  things  that  meant  much  more  to 
them  both,  and  that  was  enough.  Besides, 
and  under  the  guns  of  her  father's  eyes, 
just  before  she  went  away  she  stooped  and 
kissed  him  on  the  forehead,  and  that  was 
more  than  enough  to  make  anybody  get 
over  anything,  Aladdin  thought.  So  he 
slept  a  long  cool  sleep  after  Margaret  had 
gone,  and  woke  free  of  fever.  As  he  lay 
gathering  strength  to  sit  up  in  bed,  which 
treat  had  been  promised  him  in  ten  days, 
Aladdin's  mind  worked  hard  over  the 
65 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

future,  and  what  he  could  machinate  in 
order  one  day  to  be  almost  worthy  to  kiss 
the  dust  under  Margaret's  feet.  She  sent 
him  flowers  twice,  but  was  not  allowed  to 
come  and  see  him  again. 

Aladdin  had  awful  struggles  with  the 
boredom  of  convalescence.  He  felt  per 
fectly  well,  and  they  would  n't  let  him  get 
up  and  out ;  everything  forbidden  he 
wanted  to  eat.  And  his  one  solace  was 
the  Brackett  library.  This  was  an  extraor 
dinary  collection  of  books.  They  were 
seven,  and  how  they  got  there  nobody 
knows.  The  most  important  in  the  col 
lection  was,  in  Mrs.  Brackett's  estimation, 
an  odd  volume  of  an  encyclopedia,  bound 
in  tree-calf  and  labeled,  "  Safety-lamps  to 
Stranglers."  Next  were  four  fat  tomes  in 
the  German  language  on  scientific  sub 
jects  ;  these,  provided  that  anybody  had 
ever  wanted  to  read  them,  had  never  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  themselves  read,  but 
they  had  cuts  and  cuts  which  were  fasci 
nating  to  surmise  about.  The  sixth  book 
was  the  second  volume  of  a  romance  called 
66 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  The  Headsman,"  by  "  the  author  of  'The 
Spy,'  "  and  the  seventh  was  a  back-split 
edition  of  Poe's  poems. 

The  second  volume  of  "The  Headsman" 
went  like  cakes  and  syrup  on  a  cold  morn 
ing,  for  it  was  narrative,  and  then  it  was 
laid  aside,  because  it  was  dull.  The  four 
German  books  had  their  cuts  almost  ex 
amined  out  of  them,  and  the  encyclopedia 
book,  from  "  Safety-lamps  to  Stranglers," 
practically  had  its  contents  torn  out  and 
devoured.  In  after  life  Aladdin  could 
always  speak  with  extraordinary  fluency, 
feeling,  and  understanding  on  anything 
that  began  with  S,  such  as  Simeon  Stylites 
and  Senegambia.  But  the  poems  of  Poe 
were  what  made  his  sickness  worth  while 
and  put  the  call  upon  all  his  after  life.  We 
learn  of  the  critics  and  professors  of  Eng 
lish  that  there  are  greater  lyric  poets  than 
Poe.  They  will  base  this  on  technicalities 
and  theories  of  what  poetry  has  been  and 
what  poetry  ought  to  be,  and  will  not 
take  into  account  the  fact  that  of  all  of 
them  —  Keats,  Shelley,  Wordsworth  when 
67 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

he  is  a  poet  at  all,  Heine,  and  the  lyric 
body  of  Goethe  and  the  rest  —  not  one  in 
proportion  to  the  mass  of  his  production 
so  often  leaves  the  ground  and  spreads 
wings  as  Poe, — 

If  I  might  dwell 

Where  Israfel 

Hath  dwelt,  and  he  where  I, 

He  might  not  sing  so  wildly  well 

A  mortal  melody, 

While  a  bolder  note  than  his  might  swell 

From  my  lyre  within  the  sky, — 

and  that  where  they  have,  they  have 
perhaps  risen  a  little  higher,  but  never 
have  sung  more  hauntingly  and  clear. 
The  wonderful  sounds  and  the  unearthly 
purity  —  the  purity  of  a  little  child  that 
has  died  —  took  Aladdin  by  the  throat 
and  shook  up  the  imagination  and  music 
that  had  lain  dormant  within  him ;  his 
father's  bent  for  invention  clarified  into  a 
passion  for  creation.  The  first  thing  he 
read  was  three  stanzas  on  the  left-hand 
page  where  the  book  opened  to  his  un- 
eager  hands,  and  his  eyes,  expectant  of 
68 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

disappointment, — for  up  to  that  time,  never 
having  read  any,  he  hated  poetry, —  fell  on 
one  of  the  five  or  six  perfect  poems  in  the 
world : 

Helen,  thy  beauty  is  to  me 
Like  those  Nicean  barks  of  yore 
That  gently  o'er  a  perfumed  sea 
The  weary,  wayworn  wanderer  bore 
To  his  own  native  shore. 

On  desperate  seas  long  wont  to  roam, 
Thy  hyacinth  hair,  thy  classic  face, 
Thy  naiad  airs  have  brought  me  home 
To  the  glory  that  was  Greece, 
And  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome. 

Lo,  in  yon  brilliant  window-niche 
How  statue-like  I  see  thee  stand, 
The  agate  lamp  within  thy  hand ! 
Ah,  Psyche  !     From  the  regions  which 
Are  holy  land. 

And  he  knew  that  he  had  read  the  most 
exquisite,  the  most  insouciant,  and  the  most 
universal  account  of  every  man's  heart's 
desire — Margaret  as  she  would  be  when 
she  grew  tall.  He  knew  little  of  the  glory 
that  was  Greece  or  the  grandeur  that  was 
69 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Rome,  but  whatever  they  were,  Margaret 
had  all  of  them,  and  the  hyacinth  hair, 
very  thick  and  clustery  and  beautiful,  and 
the  naiad  airs.  Ah,  Psyche  ! 

And  he  read  forward  and  back  in  the 
book,  and  after  a  little  he  knew  that  he 
had  a  soul,  and  that  the  only  beautiful 
thing  in  the  world  is  beauty,  and  the 
only  sad  thing,  and  that  beauty  is  truth. 

Open  at  the  lines  to  Helen  he  laid  the 
book  face  down  upon  his  heart,  with  his 
hands  clasped  over  it,  and  shut  his  eyes. 

"  Now  I  know  what  I  Ve  got  to  do,"  he 
said.  "  Now  I  know  what  I  Ve  got  to  do." 

He  dreamed  away  hours  until  suddenly 
the  need  of  deeds  set  him  bolt  upright  in 
bed,  and  he  called  to  Mrs.  Brackett  to 
bring  him  pencil  and  paper.  From  that 
time  on  he  was  seldom  without  them,  and, 
by  turns  reading  and  writing,  entered  with 
hope  and  fortitude  into  the  challenging 
field  of  literature.  And  from  the  first, 
however  ignorant  and  unkempt  the  effort, 
he  wrote  a  kind  of  literature,  for  he  buc 
kled  to  no  work  that  he  knew,  and  was 
70 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

forever  striving  after  an  ideal  (nebulous, 
indescribable,  and  far)  of  his  own,  and  that 
is  literature.  Go  to  those  who  have 
wrought  for  —  forever  (without,  of  course, 
knowing  it)  and  those  who  have  wrought 
earnestly  for  the  day,  and  these  things 
you  will  find  made  the  god  in  their  ma 
chine  :  Raphael's  sonnets  and  Dante's 
picture !  Aladdin  had  no  message,  that 
he  knew  of,  for  the  world,  but  the  call  of 
one  of  the  arts  was  upon  him ;  and  he 
knew  that  willy-nilly  he  must  answer  that 
call  as  long  as  eyes  could  see,  or  hands 
hold  pen,  or  tongue  call  for  pencil  and 
paper,  money  buy  them,  or  theft  procure 
them.  He  set  himself  stubbornly  and 
courageously  to  the  bitter-sweet  task  of 
learning  to  write. 

"  It  must  be  like  learning  anything 
else,"  he  said,  his  eyes  on  a  sheet  of  seem 
ingly  uncorrectable  misbalances.  "  and  just 
because  I  'm  rotten  at  it  now  does  n't 
prove  that  if  I  practise  and  practise,  and 
try  and  try,  and  hope  and  hope,  I  won't 
be  some  good  sometime." 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

He  saw  very  clearly  the  squat  dark 
tower  itself  in  the  midst  of  the  chin-upon- 
hand  hills,  and  the  world  and  his  friends 
sitting  about  to  see  him  fail.  He  saw 
them,  and  he  knew  them  all,  and  yet,  with 
Childe  Roland, 

Dauntless  the  slughorn  to  his  lips  he  set, 
And  blew. 

And  incidentally,  when  he  got  well  and 
returned  to  school,  he  entered  on  a  period 
of  learning  his  lessons,  for  he  thought  that 
these  might  one  day  be  of  use  to  him  in 
his  chosen  line. 


72 


X 


[ENATOR  ST.  JOHN,  for  he 

was  at  heart  democratic,  and 
heard  little  of  Aladdin  that  was 
not  to  Aladdin's  credit,  derigorized  the 
taboo  which  he  had  once  placed  on 
Aladdin's  and  Margaret's  friendship,  and 
allowed  the  young  man  to  come  occasion 
ally  to  the  house,  and  occasionally  loaned 
him  books.  Margaret  was  really  at  the 
bottom  of  this,  but  she  stayed  comfortably 
at  the  bottom,  and  teased  her  father  to  do 
the  needful,  and  he,  wrapped  up  in  the 
great  issues  which  were  threatening  to  di 
vide  the  country,  complied.  In  those  days 
the  senator's  interests  extended  far  beyond 
his  family,  Margaret  and  the  three  power 
ful  sons  who  were  building  a  reputation 
for  the  firm  of  John  St.  John  &  Brothers, 

73 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

lawyers  in  Portland.  He  gave  Aladdin 
leave  to  come  and  go,  even  smiled  grimly 
as  he  did  so,  and,  except  at  those  moments 
when  he  met  him  face  to  face,  forgot  that 
Aladdin  existed.  Margaret  enjoyed  Alad 
din  hugely,  and  unconsciously  sat  for  the 
heroine  of  every  novel  he  began,  and  the 
inspiration  of  every  verse  that  he  wrote. 
When  Aladdin  reached  his  eighteenth  year 
and  Margaret  her  sixteenth  there  was 
such  a  delightful  and  strong  friendship 
between  them  that  the  other  young  people 
of  the  town  talked.  Margaret  in  her  heart 
of  hearts  was  fonder  of  Aladdin  than  of 
anybody  else  —  when  she  was  with  him, 
or  under  the  immediate  influence  of  hav 
ing  been  with  him,  for  nobody  else  had 
such  extraordinary  ideas,  or  such  a  fund 
of  amusing  vitality,  or  such  fascinating 
moods.  Like  every  one  with  a  touch  of 
the  Celt  in  him,  Aladdin  was  by  turns 
gloomiest  and  most  unfortunate  of  all 
mortals  upon  whom  the  sun  positively 
would  not  shine,  or  the  gayest  of  the  gay. 
From  his  droll  manner  of  singing  a  song, 

74 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

to  the  seriousness  with  which  he  some 
times  bore  all  the  sufferings  of  all  the 
world,  he  seemed  to  her  a  most  complex 
and  unusual  individual.  But  his  spells 
were  of  the  instant,  and  her  thoughts  were 
very  often  on  that  beautiful  young  man, 
Manners,  who,  having  completed  his  course 
at  the  law  school,  was  coming  to  spend 
a  month  before  he  should  begin  to 
practise.  Since  his  first  visit  years  ago, 
Manners,  now  a  grown  man  of  twenty, 
had  spent  much  of  many  of  his  vacations 
with  the  St.  Johns.  The  senator  was 
obliged,  as  well  as  his  limitations  would 
allow,  to  take  the  place  of  a  mother  to 
Margaret,  and  though  it  was  barely  guess- 
able  from  his  words  or  actions,  he  loved 
Peter  Manners  like  a  son,  and  had  re 
solved,  almost  since  the  beginning,  to  end 
by  having  him  for  one.  And  the  last  time 
that  Manners  had  visited  them  in  Wash 
ington,  St.  John  had  seen  to  it  that  he 
shook  hands  with  all  the  great  men  who 
were  making  history.  Once  the  senator 
and  Margaret  had  visited  the  Manners  in 

75 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

New  York.  That  had  been  a  bitter  time 
for  Aladdin,  for  while  all  the  others  of  his 
age  were  sniffing  timidly  at  love  and  life, 
he  had  found  his  grand  passion  early  and 
stuck  to  it,  and  was  now  blissful  with 
hope  and  now  acrid  with  jealousy.  Peter 
Manners  he  hated  with  a  green  and  jeal 
ous  hatred.  And  if  Peter  Manners  had 
any  of  the  baser  passions,  he  divined  this, 
and  hated  Aladdin  back,  but  rather  con 
temptuously.  They  met  occasionally,  and 
the  meetings,  always  in  the  presence  of 
Margaret,  were  never  very  happy.  She 
was  woman  enough  to  rejoice  at  being  a 
bone  of  contention,  and  angel  enough  to 
hate  seeing  good  times  spoiled. 

But  it  was  hard  on  Aladdin.  He  could 
go  to  her  house  almost  when  he  liked,  and 
be  welcomed  by  her,  but  to  her  father  and 
the  rest  of  the  household  he  was  not  espe 
cially  welcome.  They  were  always  polite 
to  him,  and  always  considerate,  and  he 
felt — quite  rightly — that  he  was  merely 
tolerated,  as  a  more  or  less  presentable 
acquaintance  of  Margaret's.  Manners,  on 
76 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  other  hand,  and  it  took  less  intuition 
to  know  it,  was  not  only  greatly  welcome 
to  Margaret,  but  to  all  the  others — from 
the  gardener  up  to  the  senator.  Manners' 
distinction  of  manner,  his  well-bred,  easy 
ways,  his  charmingly  enunciative  and 
gracious  voice,  together  with  his  naive  and 
simple  nature,  went  far  with  people's  hearts. 
Aladdin  bitterly  conceded  every  advantage 
to  his  rival  except  that  of  mind.  To  this, 
for  he  knew  even  in  his  humble  moments 
that  he  himself  had  it,  he  clung  tena 
ciously.  Mrs.  Brackett,  with  a  sneaking 
admiration  for  Peter  Manners,  whom  she 
had  once  seen  on  the  street,  had  Aladdin's 
interests  well  in  heart,  and  the  lay  of  the 
matter  well  in  hand.  She  put  it  like  this 
to  a  friendly  gossip: 

"  I  guess  'Laddin  O'Brien  's  'bout  smaht 
enough  to  go  a  long  ways  further  than 
fine  clothes  and  money  and  a  genealogi 
cal  past  will  carry  a  body.  He  writes 
sometimes  six  and  eight  big  sides  of  paper 
up  in  a  day,  and  if  he  ain't  content  with 
that  he  just  tears  it  up  and  goes  at  it 

77 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

again.  There  won't  be  anybody  '11  go 
further  in  this  world  than  'Laddin  O'Brien, 
and  you  can  say  I  said  so  —  " 

Here  under  oath  of  secrecy  Mrs.  Brack- 
ett  lowered  her  voice  and  divulged  a 
secret: 

"  He  got  a  letter  this  mornin'  sayin' 
that  the  Portland  '  Spy '  is  goin'  to  print 
three  poems  he  sent  'em,  and  enclosin' 
three  dollars  to  pay  for  'em.  I  guess 
beginnin'  right  now  he  could  go  along  at 
that  rate  and  make  mebbe  five  or  six 
hundred  dollars  a  year.  Poetry  's  nothin' 
to  him  ;  he  can  write  it  faster  than  you  and 
I  can  baste." 

At  the  very  moment  of  this  adoring  act 
of  divulgence  Aladdin  was  in  the  parlor, 
giving  his  first  taste  of  success  a  musical 
soul,  and  waiting  —  waiting  —  waiting  — 
until  it  should  be  late  enough  in  the  day 
for  him  to  climb  the  hill  to  the  St.  Johns' 
and  hand  over  the  Big  News  to  Margaret. 
And  as  he  sat  before  the  piano,  demi- 
patient  and  wholly  joyful,  his  fingers 
twinkled  the  yellowed  and  black  keys  into 

73 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

fits  of  merriment,  or,  after  an  abrupt  pause, 
built  heap  upon  heap  of  bass  chords. 
Then  the  mood  would  change  and,  to  a 
whanging  accompaniment,  he  would  chant, 
recitative  fashion,  the  three  poems  which 
alone  he  had  made. 

The  day  waned,  and  it  was  time  to  go 
and  tell  Margaret.  His  way  lay  past  the 
railway-station,  under  the  "  Look  out  for 
the  locomotive  "  sign,  across  the  track,  and 
up  the  hill.  In  the  air  was  the  exhilarat 
ing  evening  cool  of  June,  and  the  fragrance 
of  flowers,  which  in  the  north  country,  to 
make  up  for  the  shorter  tale  of  their  days, 
bloom  bigger  and  smell  sweeter  than  any 
other  flowers  in  the  world.  Even  in  the 
dirty  paved  square  fronting  the  station 
was  a  smell  of  summer  and  flowers.  You 
could  see  people's  faces  lighten  and  sniff 
it,  as  they  got  out  of  the  hot,  cindery 
coaches  of  the  five-forty,  which  had  just 
rolled  in. 

The  St.  Johns'  fine  pair  of  bays  and 
their  open  carriage  were  drawn  up  beside 
the  station.  The  horses  were  entering  a 

79 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

spirited,  ground-pawing  protest  against 
the  vicinity  of  that  alway  inexplicable  and 
snorting  monster  on  wheels.  On  the 
platform,  evidently  waiting  for  some  one 
to  get  off  the  train,  stood  St.  John  and 
Margaret.  She  looked  much  fresher  and 
sweeter  than  a  rose,  and  Aladdin  noted 
that  she  was  wearing  her  hair  up  for  the 
first  time.  Her  dress  was  a  floaty  white 
affair  with  a  blue  ribbon  round  it,  and  her 
beautiful,  gay  young  face  flushed  with 
excitement  and  anticipation  till  it  sparkled. 
There  was  a  large  crowd  getting  off  the 
train,  at  that  aggravating  rate  of  pro 
gression  with  which  people  habitually 
leave  a  crowded  public  conveyance  or  a 
theater,  and  Margaret  and  her  father  were 
looking  through  the  windows  of  the  cars 
to  see  if  they  could  catch  a  glimpse  of 
whom  they  sought.  Suddenly  the  senator 
broke  into  a  smile  and  waved  his  cane. 
The  action  was  so  unusual  for  him  that  it 
looked  grotesque.  Margaret  stood  on 
tiptoe  and  waved  her  hand,  and  a  pre 
sentiment  came  to  Aladdin  and  took  away 
all  his  joy. 

80 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Peter  Manners,  looking  fresh  and  clean 
in  spite  of  his  long,  dusty  ride,  got  off  the 
train  and  made  a  hilarious  rush  for  his 
friends.  He  shook  hands  with  Margaret, 
then  with  the  senator,  and  turned  again 
to  Margaret.  She  was  altogether  too 
pretty,  and  much  too  glad  to  see  him.  In 
the  excitement  of  the  moment  it  could  n't 
be  borne,  and  he  kissed  her.  Then  they 
both  laughed,  and  the  senator  laughed, 
for  he  was  glad.  He  put  his  great  hand 
on  Manners'  shoulder,  and  laughing  and 
talking,  the  three  went  to  the  carriage. 
Then  the  senator  remembered  that  the 
checks  had  been  forgotten,  and  against  a 
voluble  protest  he  secured  them  from 
Manners,  and  went  after  an  expressman. 
Having  found  the  expressman, —  one  of 
his  constituents  and  a  power  in  the  town, 
—  he  handed  him  the  checks,  a  fifty-cent 
piece,  and  a  ponderous  joke  as  old  as 
Xerxes,  at  which  the  expressman  roared. 
Manners  stood  by  the  carriage  and  looked 
at  Margaret.  "  Lord  God,"  he  thought, 
"  it  has  come  at  last ! "  and  they  grinned 
at  each  other. 

81 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Mmm! "  said  Margaret,  who  stood  for 
the  glory  that  was  Greece  and  the  gran 
deur  that  was  Rome.  She  had  not  ex 
pected  to  be  so  glad  to  see  him. 

Meanwhile  Aladdin  had  turned  and  was 
going  home. 

Margaret  caught  sight  of  his  back,  and 
the  pitiful  little  droop  in  the  usually  erect 
shoulders,  and  she  divined  like  a  flash,  and 
called  after  him.  He  pretended  not  to 
hear  and  went  on.  In  his  pocket  was  the 
editor's  letter  which  he  had  designed  to 
show  her.  It  had  lain  down  and  died. 

"  Why  does  that  man  hate  me  so  ? " 
said  Manners. 

A  little  of  the  joy  of  meeting  had  gone. 
A  cloud  passed  over  the  sun,  and  the 
earth  was  darkened.  Many  drops  of  rain 
began  to  fall,  each  making  a  distinct 
splash  as  it  struck.  One  began  to  smell 
the  disturbed  dust.  But  the  flowers  con 
tinued  to  send  up  their  incense  to  heaven, 
and  Manners  put  his  light  overcoat  about 
Margaret. 


82 


XI 


LADDIN  had  a  large  acquain 
tance  in  the  town  among  all  sorts 
of  men,  and,  as  he  went  home 
sorrowfully  in  the  rain,  he  met  a  youth, 
older  than  himself,  who  had  an  evil  noto 
riety;  for  being  born  with  brains,  of  re 
spectable  people,  and  propitiously  launched 
on  the  world,  he  had  begun  in  his  early 
teens,  and  in  the  face  of  the  most  heart 
rending  solicitude,  to  drink  himself  to 
death.  The  miserable  part  of  it  was  that 
everybody  loved  him  when  he  was  sober, 
and  out  of  consideration  to  his  family  still 
asked  him  to  the  best  that  the  town  could 
do  in  the  way  of  parties  and  entertain 
ments.  He  was  a  good-looking  young 
man  with  a  big  frame  and  a  pale  face. 
His  real  name  was  William  Addison  Larch, 

83 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

but  he  was  better  known  as  "  Beau 
Larch."  He  had  a  nervous,  engaging 
smile,  of  which  he  made  frequent  use. 

"My  word,  Aladdin,"  he  said,  "you 
look  sick  as  a  dog.  Come  with  me  and 
take  a  snifter  for  it." 

Aladdin  hesitated  a  moment.  And  as 
soon  as  he  had  thoroughly  made  up  his 
mind  that  it  was  wrong  to  say  so,  he  said  : 

"  I  believe  I  will."  The  Celt  in  him 
was  feeling  suicidal. 

They  went  into  the  ground-floor  room 
of  a  house  where  liquor  was  sold. 

"For  me,  whisky,"  said  Beau  Larch. 

"The  same  for  me,"  said  Aladdin,  with 
something  suspiciously  like  a  gulp.  The 
first  drink  which  a  man  takes  against  his 
better  judgment  is  a  grisly  epoch  in  his 
life.  Aladdin  realized  this,  and  was  at 
once  miserable  and  willing  that  it  should 
be  so. 

"To  those  that  love  us!"  said  Beau 
Larch. 

Aladdin  put  down  his  liquor  without 
grimace  or  gasp. 

84 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Beau  Larch  paid. 

In  Aladdin's  pocket  were  three  dollars, 
the  first  mile-post  on  the  steep  road  to  his 
ideal.  He  felt,  to  be  sure  that  they  were 
there. 

"  Now  you  '11  have  one  with  me,"  he 
said. 

When  the  sudden  rain-storm  had  rained 
and  thundered  and  lightened  itself  out, 
they  went  to  another  saloon,  and  from 
there  to  the  Boat  Club,  of  which  Beau 
Larch  was  a  member  and  whither  he  asked 
Aladdin  to  supper.  Fishes  and  lobsters 
and  clams  were  the  staple  articles  of  Boat 
Club  suppers,  and  over  savory  messes  of 
these,  helped  down  with  much  whisky 
and  water,  Aladdin  and  Beau  Larch  made 
the  evening  spin.  Aladdin,  talking  eagerly 
and  with  the  naivete  of  a  child,  wondered 
why  he  had  never  liked  this  man  so  much 
before.  And  Larch  told  the  somewhat 
abject  story  of  his  life  three  times  with  an 
introduction  of  much  racy  anecdote. 

Aladdin's  head  held  surprisingly  well. 
Every  now  and  then  he  would  hand  him- 

85 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

self  an  inward  congratulation  on  the  alert 
ness  and  clearness  of  his  mind,  and  think 
what  a  fine  constitution  he  must  have. 
They  got  to  singing  after  a  while,  and  re 
citing  poems,  of  which  each  knew  a  quan 
tity  by  heart.  And,  oddly  enough,  Aladdin, 
though  he  had  been  brought  up  to  speak 
sound  American,  developed  in  his  cups, 
and  afterward  clung  to,  in  moments  of  ex 
hilaration  or  excitement,  an  indescribably 
faintbutperfectly  distinct  Hibernian  accent. 
It  was  the  heritage  to  which  he  was  heir, 
and  made  his  eager  and  earnest  render 
ing  of  " Annabel  Lee"  so  pathetic  that 
Beau  Larch  wept,  and  knocked  a  glass  off 
the  table. 

Men  came  and  sat  with  them,  and  Alad 
din  discovered  in  himself  what  he  had 
hitherto  never  suspected — the  power  of 
becoming  heart-to-heart  friends  with 
strangers  in  two  seconds. 

Aladdin  was   never   able  to  remember 

just  how  or  when  or  with  whom  they  left 

the    Boat    Club.      He    only    remembered 

walking  and  walking  and  talking  and  talk- 

86 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

ing,  and  finally  arguing  a  knotty  question, 
on  which  all  defended  the  same  side,  and 
then  sitting  down  on  the  steps  of  a  house 
in  a  low  quarter  of  the  town,  and  pouring 
the  ramifications  of  all  his  troubles  into  the 
thoroughly  sympathetic  if  somewhat  non- 
comprehending  ears  of  Beau  Larch.  He 
talked  long  and  became  drunker  as  he 
talked,  while  Larch  became  soberer.  Then 
Aladdin  remembered  that  the  door  at  the 
top  of  the  steps  had  opened,  and  a  frowzy 
head  had  been  stuck  out,  and  that  a  brassy 
voice,  with  something  at  once  pathetic 
and  wheedling  in  it,  had  said : 
"  Are  n't  you  coming  in,  boys?  " 
Then  Aladdin  remembered  that  Beau 
Larch  and  he  had  had  angry  words,  and 
that  Beau  Larch  had  told  him  not  to  make 
an  ass  of  himself,  and  for  heaven's  sake  to 
Sfo  home.  To  which  Aladdin  had  retorted 

o 

that  he  was  old  enough  to  know  what  was 
good  for  him,  and  hated  the  world  and 
did  n't  give  a  damn  who  knew  it,  and 
would  n't  go  home.  Aladdin  could  swear 
that  after  that  he  only  closed  his  eyes  for  a 

87 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

second  to  shut  out  something  or  other,  and 
that  when  he  opened  them,  the  reverbera 
tion  of  a  door  closing  was  in  his  ears.  But 
for  all  that  Beau  Larch  had  gone,  and  was 
to  be  seen  neither  up  the  street  nor  down. 
Although  his  own  was  past  mending,  Beau 
Larch,  drunk  as  he  was,  had  done  a  good 
deed  that  night,  for  he  had  guarded  a  pre 
cious  innocence  against  the  assaults  of  a 
drunken  little  Irish  boy  who  was  feeling 
down  about  something  —  a  girl  named 
something  or  other,  Beau  Larch  thought, 
and  another  boy  named  something  or 
other.  The  next  day  Beau  had  forgotten 
even  that  much. 

Aladdin  thought  that  Larch  was  hiding 
in  jest.  He  arose  unsteadily  and  wan 
dered  off  in  search  of  him.  After  a  time 
he  found  himself  before  the  door  of  his 
own  house.  There  were  lights  in  the 
parlor,  and  Aladdin  became  almost  sober. 
He  realized  with  a  thrill  of  stricken  con 
science  that  Mrs.  Brackett  was  sitting  up 
for  him,  and  he  was  afraid.  He  tried  the 
front  door  and  found  it  unlocked.  He 
went  in.  On  the  right,  the  door  leading 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

into  the  parlor  stood  open.  On  the  table 
burned  a  lamp.  Beside  the  table  in  the 
crushed  plush  rocker  sat  Mrs.  Brackett. 
Her  spectacles  were  pushed  high  up  on 
her  forehead.  Her  eyes  were  closed,  and 
her  mouth  was  slightly  open.  From  the 
corners  of  her  eyes  red  marks  ran  down 
her  cheeks.  Her  thin  gray  hair  was  in 
disarray.  In  her  lap,  open,  lay  her  huge 
family  Bible ;  a  spray  of  pressed  maiden 
hair  fern  marked  the  place. 

Aladdin,  somewhat  sobered  by  now, 
and  already  stung  with  the  anguish  of  re 
morse,  tiptoed  into  the  parlor  and  softly 
blew  out  the  light ;  but  the  instant  before 
he  did  so  he  glanced  down  at  the  Bible  in 
the  good  lady's  lap  and  saw  that  she  had 
been  reading  about  the  prodigal  son. 
Great  tears  ran  out  of  Aladdin's  eyes. 
He  went  up-stairs,  weeping  and  on  tiptoe, 
and  as  he  passed  the  door  of  his  brother's 
room  he  heard  a  stir  within. 

"  Is  that  you,  'Laddin  ?  " 

"Sssh,  darlint,"  said  Aladdin;  "you  '11 
wake  Mother  Brackett." 

In  his  own  room  there  was  a  lamp  burn- 
89 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

ing  low,  and  on  his  bureau  was  a  note  for 
him  from  Margaret : 

DEAR  ALADDIN:  Papa  wants  you  to  come  up 
and  have  supper  with  us.  Peter  Manners  is  here, 
and  I  think  it  will  be  fun.  Please  do  come,  and 
remember  a  lot  of  foolish  songs  to  sing.  Why 
would  n't  you  speak  to  me  ?  It  hurts  so  when  you 
act  like  that.  .  .  . 

Aladdin,  kissing  the  note,  went  down  on 
his  knees  and  twice  began  to  pray,  "  O 
God  —  O  God!"  He  could  say  no  more, 
but  all  the  penitence  and  heartburnings 
of  his  soul  were  in  his  prayer.  Later  he 
lay  on  his  bed  staring  into  a  darkness 
which  moved  in  wheels,  and  he  kept  say 
ing  to  the  darkness : 

"  Neither  the  angels  in  Heaven  above, 

Nor  the  demons  down  under  the  sea, 
Can  ever  dissever  my  soul  from  the  soul 
Of  the  beautiful  Annabel  Lee." 

Late  in  the  still  morning  he  awoke, 
grieving  and  hurt,  for  he  did  not  see  how 
he  should  ever  face  Mrs.  Brackett,  or  his 
brother,  or  Margaret,  or  himself,  or  any 
body  ever  again. 

90 


XII 

[HERE  was  in  town  at  this  time 
what  passed  for  a  comic-opera 
troupe,  and  Margaret  and  her 
father,  by  way  of  doing  honor  to  their 
guest,  invited  all  the  young  people  to  go 
to  the  performance  and  attend  a  supper 
afterward.  The  party  occupied  the  three 
foremost  rows  in  the  music-hall,  and  Alad 
din  sat  next  to  Margaret,  and  Manners 
sat  upon  the  other  side. 

The  hero  of  the  piece  was  a  jovial  big 
rascal  with  a  spirited  voice,  and  much  by 
play  which  kept  his  good-natured  audience 
in  titters  —  from  the  young  gentlemen  — 
and  little  shrieks  —  from  the  young  ladies. 
Mr.  Blythoe,  the  hero,  when  the  curtain 
had  fallen  upon  what  the  management 
was  pleased  to  call  the  second  act,  con- 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

sented,  in  response  to  continued  applause, 
due  to  a  double  back  somersault  and  two 
appropriate  remarks  fired  off  in  midair 
(this  was  his  great  psychic  moment),  to 
make  a  little  speech  and  sing  a  song.  His 
speech,  though  syntactically  erratic,  was 
delivered  in  a  loud,  frank  way  that  won 
everybody's  heart,  and  in  closing  he  said : 
"Three  nights  ago  I  met  with  a  young 
feller  in  this  tow  —  city  [applause],  and 
when  we  had  taken  one  together  for  luck 
[titters  from  the  young  gentlemen,  who 
wanted  one  another  to  know  that  they  knew 
what  he  meant],  he  made  me  the  loan  of 
the  song  I  'm  a-going  to  sing.  He  made 
up  the  words  and  the  tune  of  this  song 
hisself,  and  he  's  right  here  in  this  audi 
ence."  This  gave  an  opportunity  for  some 
buffoonery  among  the  young  gentlemen. 
Mr.  Blythoe  looked  for  one  instant  straight 
at  Aladdin,  and  Aladdin  went  into  a  cold 
sweat,  for  he  began  to  recollect  that  some 
where  on  a  certain  awful  night  he  had 
taken  drinks  with  Mr.  Blythoe  and  had 
sung  him  songs.  Mr.  Blythoe  went  on : 
92 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  This  young  gentleman  said  I  specially 
was  n't  to  mention  his  name,  and  I  won't, 
but  I  want  all  you  ladies  and  gentlemen 
to  know  that  this  here  beautiful  ballad 
was  composed  right  here  in  this  tow — city 
[applause]  by  a  citizen  of  this  city.  And 
here  goes." 

Then  Mr.  Blythoe  did  a  wonderful 
thing.  Much  was  owing  to  the  words  and 
air,  but  a  little  something  to  the  way  in 
which  Mr.  Blythoe  sang.  He  took  his 
audience  with  the  first  bar,  and  had  some 
of  them  crying  when  he  was  through.  And 
the  song  should  have  been  silly.  It  was 
about  a  gay,  gay  young  dog  of  a  crow,  that 
left  the  flock  and  went  to  a  sunny  land  and 
lived  a  mad,  mad  life  ;  and  finally,  penitent 
and  old,  came  home  to  the  north  country 
and  saw  his  old  playmates  in  the  distance 
circling  about  the  old  pine-tree,  but  was  too 
weak  to  reach  them,  or  to  call  loud  enough 
for  them  to  hear,  and  so  lay  down  and  died, 
died,  died.  The  tune  was  the  sweetest 
little  plaintive  wail,  and  at  the  end  of  each 
stanza  it  died,  died,  till  you  had  to  cry. 

93 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Mr.  Blythoe  received  tremendous  applause, 
but  refused  to  encore.  He  winked  to 
Aladdin  and  bowed  himself  off.  Then 
Aladdin  executed  an  unparalleled  blush. 
He  could  feel  it  start  in  the  small  of  his 
back  and  spread  all  over  him  —  up  under 
the  roots  of  his  hair  to  the  top  of  his  head. 
He  should  have  felt  proud,  instead  of 
which  he  was  suffused  with  shame.  Mar 
garet  caught  sight  of  his  face. 

"What  is  it,  Aladdin?"  she  said  in  a 
whisper. 

"  Nothing." 

"  Won't  you  tell  me  ?  " 

"  It  's  nothing."  He  got  redder  and 
redder. 

"  Please." 

With  downcast  eyes  he  shook  his  head. 
She  looked  at  him  dubiously  and  a  little 
pathetically  for  a  moment.  Then  she  said, 
"  Silly  goose,"  and  turned  to  Manners. 

"  Poor  old  crow  !  "  said  Manners.  "  I 
had  one,  Margaret,  when  I  was  little ;  he 
had  his  wings  clipped  and  used  to  follow 
me  like  a  dog,  and  one  day  he  saw  some 
of  his  old  friends  out  on  the  salt-marsh, 

94 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  he  hopped  out  to  talk  it  over  with 
them,  and  they  set  upon  him  and  killed 
him.  And  I  could  n't  get  there  quick 
enough  to  help  him  —  I  beg  your  pardon." 
He  picked  up  a  fan  and  handed  it  to  the 
girl  on  his  left,  and  she,  having  dropped 
it  on  purpose,  blushed,  thanked  him,  and 
giggled.  Manners  turned  to  Margaret 
again.  "  Ever  since  then,"  he  said,  "  when 
I  have  a  gun  in  my  hand  and  see  a  crow, 
I  want  to  kill  him  for  the  sake  of  the  crows 
that  killed  mine,  and  to  let  him  go  for  the 
sake  of  mine,  who  was  such  a  nice  old  fel 
low.  So  it  's  an  awful  problem." 

Aladdin  sat  and  looked  straight  before 
him.  "  Is  real  fame  as  awful  as  this?"  he 
thought. 

Somebody  clapped  him  on  the  shoulder, 
and  a  hearty  voice,  something  the  worse 
for  wear,  said  loudly  in  his  ear,  "  Bully, 
Aladdin,  bully!" 

Aladdin  looked  up  and  recognized  that 
bad  companion,  Beau  Larch. 

"  That 's  all  right,"  Aladdin  tried  to  say, 
but  Mr.  Larch  would  not  be  downed. 

"Was  n't  it  bully,  Margaret?"  he  said. 

95 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

"  Oh  —  hallo  —  hallo,  Beau  !  "  said  she, 
starting  and  turning  round  and  collecting 
her  wits.  "What?  Was  n't  what  bully?" 

Aladdin  frowned  at  Larch  with  all  the 
forbiddingness  that  he  could  muster,  but 
Larch  was  imperturbable. 

"  Why,  Aladdin's  song ! "  he  said.  "  You 
know,  the  one  about  the  old  crow  —  the 
one  the  man  just  sang." 

Here  a  young  lady,  over  whom  Beau 
Larch  was  leaning,  confided  to  her  escort 
in  an  audible,  nervous  voice  that  she  knew 
Beau  Larch  had  been  drinking,  but  she 
would  n't  say  why  she  knew  —  anybody 
could  see  he  had ;  and  then  she  sniffed 
with  her  nose  by  way  of  indicating  that 
seeing  was  not  the  only  or  best  method  of 
telling. 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  —  "  said  Mar 
garet  to  Aladdin,  and  looked  him  in  the 
eyes.  "Why,  Aladdin!"  she  said.  And 
then :  "  Peter —  Peter  —  'Laddin  wrote  it, 
he  did.  Is  n't  it  gr-reat !  " 

And  Peter,  rising  to  the  occasion,  said, 
"Bully"  and  "I  thought  it  was  great," 
96 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

with  such  absolute  frankness  and  sincerity 
that  Aladdin's  heart  almost  warmed  to 
ward  him.  It  was  presently  known  all 
over  the  house  that  Aladdin  had  written 
the  song.  And  some  of  the  more  clown 
ish  of  the  young  people  called  for  Author, 
Aitthor.  Aladdin  hung  his  head. 

At  supper  at  the  St.  Johns'  later  was  a 
crisp,  brisk  gentleman  with  grayish  hair, 
who  talked  in  a  pleasant,  dry  way.  Alad 
din  learned  that  it  was  Mr.  Blankinship, 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Portland 
"  Spy."  Almost  immediately  on  learning 
this  important  item,  he  saw  Mr.  Blankin 
ship  exchange  a  word  with  Margaret  and 
come  toward  him. 

"Mr.  O'Brien?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"The  same  that  sent  us  three  poems  a 
while  ago  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"And  you  wrote  that  song  we  heard 
to-night?" 

"  Yes,  sir."     Aladdin  was  now  fiery  red. 

"What  do  you  do  for  a  living?" 

7  97 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"I  Ve  just  finished  school,"  said  Alad 
din.  "And  I  don't  know  what  to  do." 

"  Newspaper  work  appeal  to  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Timid  as  a  coot,"  thought  Mr.  Blankin- 
ship. 

"Write  easily?"  he  said.  "Fast  — 
short  words  ?  " 

Aladdin  thought  a  moment.  "Yes,  sir," 
he  said  coolly. 

"  Less  timid  than  a  coot,"  thought  Mr. 
Blankinship. 

"Willing  to  live  in  Portland?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"I  '11  give  you  five  dollars  a  week  and 
give  you  a  trial." 

"Thank  you,  sir." 

"Can  you  get  moved  and  start  work 
Monday?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

Mr.  Blankinship  smiled  cheerfully. 

"  Pretty  entertainment,  is  n't  it  ? " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Well,  O'Brien,  see  you  Monday ;  hope 
we  get  on."  Mr.  Blankinship  nodded 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

pleasantly  and  passed  up  the  room  to  the 
punch,  muttering  as  he  went,  "  Writes  bet 
ter  than  talks  —  dash  of  genius  —  more  or 
less  timid  than  a  coot." 

Aladdin  went  quickly  to  find  Margaret. 
He  traced  her  to  the  pantry,  where  she 
was  hurrying  the  servant  who  had  charge 
of  the  ice-cream.  Aladdin  waited  until 
the  servant  had  gone  out  with  a  heaping 
tray. 

"  Margaret,"  he  said,  "  I  'm  going  away 
to  live." 

He  spoke  in  the  flat,  colorless  voice  with 
which  a  little  child  announces  that  it  has 
hurt  itself. 

"What  do  you  mean,  Aladdin?"  She 
changed  color  slightly. 

"  Only  that  I  've  got  to  make  a  living, 
Margaret,  and  it  's  on  a  paper,  so  I  ought 
to  be  glad." 

"  Are  n't  you  glad,  Aladdin  ?  " 

"A  little." 

"Aladdin—" 

"Margaret — O  Margaret — " 

She  read  in  his  eyes  what  was  coming 

99 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Not  now,  Aladdin,"  she  said.  "Not 
now  —  dear  Aladdin." 

"  Then  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  Ve  always  known,  Aladdin,  and  been 
grateful  and  that  proud." 

"  Will  there  never  be  any  chance  for 
me,  Margaret  ? " 

"Aladdin,  I  think  I  like  you  better 
than  anybody  else  in  the  world  —  " 

"  Darling  — "  he  had  never  supposed 
that  it  could  be  said  so  easily ;  he  leaned 
toward  her. 

"  No,"  she  said  suddenly ;  "  I  Ve  got  to 
go  and  see  after  all  those  foolish  people." 

"  Just  for  the  sake  of  old  times,  and 
now,  and  new  times  —  " 

She  hesitated,  reddened  a  little,  and 
then,  as  sweetly  and  innocently  as  a  child, 
put  up  her  lips  for  him  to  kiss. 


100 


XIII 

CANNIBAL  ST.  JOHN'S  cam 
paign  for  reelection  to  the  sena- 
torship  was,  owing  to  a  grievous 
error  in  tact,  of  doubtful  issue.  A  hue  and 
cry  arose  against  him  among  his  constitu 
ents,  and  things  in  general  fell  out  so  un 
happily  that  it  looked  toward  the  close 
of  the  contest  as  if  he  would  be  obliged  to 
sit  idle  and  dangle  his  heels,  while  the 
two  halves  of  the  country,  pushing  against 
each  other,  were  rising  in  the  middle  like 
the  hinge  of  a  toggle-joint  into  the  most 
momentous  crisis  in  the  nation's  history. 
It  looked  as  if  the  strong  man,  with  his  al 
most  blasphemous  intolerance  of  disunion, 
his  column-like  power  of  supporting,  and 
his  incomparable  intellect,  was  to  stand  in 
the  background  and  watch  the  nightmare 
play  from  afar.  He  fought  for  his  place 
101 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

in  the  forefront  of  the  battle  with  a  great 
fervor  of  bitterness,  and  the  possibility  of 
defeat  weighed  upon  his  glowering  soul 
like  a  premature  day  of  judgment.  He 
knew  himself  to  be  the  one  man  for  the 
opportunity,  and  could  his  true  feelings 
have  found  utterance,  they  would  have 
said,  "  Damn  us  everlastingly  in  hell,  but 
don't  shelve  us  now  !  " 

Opposed  to  St.  John  was  a  Mr.  Bispham, 
of  about  quarter  his  height  intellectually 
and  integrally  —  a  politician,  simple,  who 
went  to  war  for  loot.  But  he  was  blessed 
with  a  tremendous  voice  and  an  inex 
haustible  store  of  elemental,  fundamental 
humor,  upon  the  waves  of  which  the  ship 
bearing  his  banner  floated  high.  It  seemed 
that  because  of  one  glaring  exhibition 
of  tactlessness,  and  a  lack  of  humor,  a 
really  important,  valuable,  and  honest 
man  was  to  lose  the  chance  of  serving  his 
country  to  a  designing  whipper-snapper, 
who  was  without  even  the  saving  grace  of 
violent  and  virulent  prejudices.  And  so 
the  world  goes.  It  seemed  at  one  time 
102 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

that  St.  John's  chance  was  a  ghost  of  a 
chance,  and  his  friends,  sons,  and  relatives, 
toiling  headstrong  by  night  and  day,  were 
brought  up  at  the  verge  of  despair.  To 
make  the  situation  even  more  difficult,  St. 
John  himself  was  prostrated  with  the  gout, 
so  that  his  telling  oratory  and  command 
ing  personality  could  not  be  brought  to 
bear.  Margaret  was  never  far  from  her 
father's  side,  and  she  worked  like  a  dog 
for  him,  writing  to  dictation  till  her  hands 
became  almost  useless,  and  when  the 
spasms  of  pain  were  great,  leaving  her 
work  to  kiss  his  old  brow. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  people  all  over 
the  State  began  to  take  up  a  song  with  an 
inimitably  catching  tune.  The  words  of 
this  song  held  up  Mr.  Bispham  in  so 
shrewdly  true  and  farcically  humorous  a 
light  that  even  his  own  star  began  to  titter 
and  threatened  to  slip  from  its  high  place 
in  the  heavens.  The  song  fell  so  abso 
lutely  on  the  head  of  the  nail  that  Mr. 
Bispham,  when  he  heard  it  for  the  first 
time,  was  convulsed  with  anger  and  talked 

103 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

of  horse-whips.  The  second  time  he  heard 
it,  he  drew  himself  up  with  dignity  and 
pretended  not  to  notice,  and  the  third  time 
he  broke  into  a  cold  sweat,  for  he  began 
to  be  afraid  of  those  words  and  that  tune. 
At  a  mass-meeting,  while  in  the  midst  of 
a  voluble  harangue,  somebody  in  the  back 
of  the  hall  punctuated  an  absurd  state 
ment,  which  otherwise  might  have  passed 
unnoticed,  by  whistling  the  first  bar  of  the 
song.  Mr.  Bispham  faced  the  tittering 
like  a  man,  and  endeavored  to  rehabilitate 
himself.  But  his  hands  had  slipped  on 
the  handle  of  the  audience,  and  the  forensic 
rosin  of  Demosthenes  would  not  have  en 
abled  him  to  regain  his  grip.  He  was 
cruelly  assured  of  the  fact  by  the  hostile 
and  ready-witted  whistler.  Again  Mr. 
Bispham  absurded.  This  time  the  tune 
broke  out  in  all  parts  of  the  hall  and  was 
itself  punctuated  by  catcalls  and  sotto-voce 
insults  delivered  with  terrific  shouts.  Mr. 
Bispham's  speech  was  hurriedly  finished, 
and  the  peroration  came  down  as  flat  as  a 
skater  who  tries  a  grape-vine  for  the  first 
104 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

time.  He  left  the  hall  hurriedly,  pale  and 
nervous.  The  tune  followed  him  down 
the  street  and  haunted  him  to  his  room. 
The  alarming  takingness  of  it  had  gotten 
in  at  his  ear,  and  as  he  was  savagely  un 
dressing  he  caught  himself  in  the  traitor 
ous  act  of  humming  it  to  himself. 

Among  others  to  leave  the  hall  was  a 
tall,  slim  young  man  with  freckles  across 
the  bridge  of  his  nose  and  very  bright 
blue  eyes.  A  party  of  young  men  accom 
panied  him,  and  all  were  a  little  noisy, 
and,  as  they  made  the  street,  broke  lustily 
into  the  campaign  song.  People  said, 
"That  's  him,"  "That  's  O'Brien," 
"That 's  Aladdin  O'Brien,"  "That 's  the 
man  wrote  it,"  and  the  like.  The  young 
men  disappeared  down  the  street  singing 
at  the  tops  of  their  voices,  with  interlar- 
dations  of  turbulent,  mocking  laughter. 

Aladdin's  song  went  all  over  the  North, 
and  his  name  became  known  in  the  land. 

Hannibal  St.  John  was  not  musical. 
There  were  only  four  tunes,  and  three  of 

105 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

them  were  variations  of  "  Carry  Me  Back 
to  Old  Virginia,"  that  he  recognized  when 
he  heard  them.  As  he  lay  on  his  bed  of 
pain,  he  heard  the  shrill  whistle  of  his 
gardener  piping  in  the  garden  below. 
Unconsciously  the  senator's  well  hand 
marked  the  time.  All  day,  as  he  came 
and  went  about  his  business,  the  gardener 
kept  whistling  that  tune,  and  the  senator 
heard  and  reheard  ever  with  increasing 
pleasure.  And  this  was  an  extraordinary 
thing,  for  it  was  as  difficult  or  nearly  so  to 
move  Hannibal  St.  John  with  music  as  it 
must  have  been  for  Orpheus  to  get  him 
self  approached  by  rocks  and  stones  and 
trees,  and  far  more  difficult  than  it  ever 
was  for  the  Pied  Piper  to  achieve  a  follow 
ing  of  brats  and  rats. 

Margaret  had  been  for  a  drive  with  a 
girl  friend.  She  came  home  and  to  her 
father's  side  in  great  spirits. 

"  Oh,  papa,"  she  cried,  "  will  you  do  me 
a  favor  ?  " 

She  read  consent. 

"  Claire  has  got  the  wonderfulest  song, 
1 06 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and   I  want  you  to  let  her  come  in  and 
sing  it  for  you." 

"  A  song  ?  "  said  the  senator,  doubtfully. 

"  Papa  de-e-ear,  please" 

He  smiled  grimly. 

"  If  Claire  will  not  be  shocked  by  my 
appearance,"  he  said  against  hope. 

"  Rubbish,"  cried  Margaret,  and  flew 
out  of  the  room. 

There  were  a  few  preliminary  gasps  and 
giggles  in  the  hall,  and  the  two  maidens, 
as  sedate  and  demure  as  mice,  entered. 
Claire  was  a  little  party,  with  vivacious 
manners  and  a  comical  little  upturned  face. 

"How  do  you  do,  senator?"  she  said. 
"  I  'm  so  sorry  you  're  laid  up.  Is  n't  it 
lovely  out  ? "  She  advanced  and  shook 
his  well  hand. 

"Won't  you  take  a  chair?"  said  the 
senator. 

"  I  just  ran  in  for  a  moment.  Margaret 
and  I  thought  maybe  you  'd  like  to  hear 
the  new  campaign  song  that  everybody  's 
singing.  My  brother  brought  it  up  from 
Portland  — "  she  paused,  out  of  breath. 
107 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

"It  would  afford  me  great  pleasure," 
said  the  senator. 

And  forthwith  Claire  sang  in  a  rollick 
ing  voice.  The  tune  was  the  same  as 
that  which  the  gardener  had  been  whis 
tling.  St.  John  recognized  it  in  spite  of 
the  difference  in  the  mediums  and  smiled. 
Then  he  smiled  because  of  the  words,  and 
presently  he  laughed.  It  was  the  first 
real  pleasure  he  had  had  in  many  a  day. 

"Everybody  is  wild  about  it,"  said 
Claire,  when  she  had  finished. 

The  senator  was  shaking  with  laughter. 

"That 's  good"  he  said,  "  that  's  good." 

"Papa,"  said  Margaret,  when  Claire 
had  gone,  "who  do  you  think  wrote  that 
song?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  the  senator.  "  But 
it  's good" 

"Aladdin  wrote  it,"  said  Margaret. 

"  Upon  my  word  !  "  said  the  senator. 

Margaret  knelt  and  threw  her  arms 
about  her  father's  neck  and  blushed  a 
lovely  blush. 

"Is  n't  it  splendid?  " 
1 08 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

There  was  a  ring  at  the  front  door,  and 
a  telegram  was  brought  in. 

"  Read  it,  Peggy,"  said  the  senator.  He 
used  that  name  only  when  moved  about 
something.  The  despatch  was  from  the 
senator's  youngest  son,  Hannibal,  and 
read: 

Do  not  worry ;  we  are  singing  Bispham  up  a  tree. 

"And  Aladdin  wrote  the  song!"  cried 
Margaret.  "  Aladdin  wrote  it !  " 

The  senator's  face  clouded  for  a  moment. 
He  forced  the  cloud  to  pass. 

"We  must  thank  him,"  he  said.  "We 
must  thank  him." 

Senator  St.  John  was  reflected  by  a 
small  majority.  Everybody  admitted  that 
it  was  due  to  Aladdin  O'Brien's  song.  It 
was  impossible  to  disguise  the  engaging 
childishness  of  the  vote. 


109 


XIV 

>S  he  went  to  his  desk  in  the  back 
room  of  the  Portland  "Spy" 
offices  the  morning  after  the 
election,  Aladdin  had  an  evil  headache, 
and  a  subconscious  hope  that  nobody 
would  speak  to  him  suddenly.  He  felt 
that  his  arms  and  legs  might  drop  off  if 
anybody  did,  and  he  could  have  sworn 
that  he  saw  a  gray  sparrow  with  blue 
eyes  run  into  a  dark  corner,  and  turn  into 
a  mouse.  But  he  was  quite  free  from 
penitence,  as  the  occasion  of  this  last  of 
fense  had  been  joy  and  triumph,  whereas 
that  of  his  first  had  been  sorrow.  He 
lighted  a  bad  cigar,  put  off  his  editorial 
till  later,  and  covered  a  whole  sheet  of 
paper  with  pictures  like  these : 
no 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

He  looked  back  with  a  certain  smug  sat 
isfaction  upon  a  hilarious  evening  begin 
ning  with  a  dinner  at  the  club,  which  some 
of  the  older  adherents  of  St.  John  had 
given  him  in  gratitude  for  the  part  he  had 
taken  in  the  campaign.  He  remembered 
that  he  had  not  given  a  bad  exhibition, 
and  that  noble  prophecies  had  been  made 
of  his  future  by  gentlemen  in  their  cups, 
and  that  he  himself,  when  just  far  enough 
gone  to  be  courageous  without  being  silly, 
had  made  a  snappy  little  speech  of  thanks 
which  had  been  received  with  great  ap 
plause,  and  that  later  he  had  sung  his 
campaign  song  and  others,  and  that  finally, 
in  company  with  an  ex -judge,  whose  hat 
was  also  decorated  with  a  wreath  of  smilax, 
he  had  rolled  amiably  about  the  town  in 
a  hack,  going  from  one  place  where  drinks 
could  be  gotten  to  another,  and  singing 
with  great  fervor  and  patriotism : 

Zhohn  Brownzh  bozhy  liezh  a  mole-ring  in  zhe  grave. 

Aladdin  thought  over  these  things  with 
pleasure,  for  he  had  fallen  under  the  dan- 
112 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

gerous  flattery  of  older  men,  and  with  less 
pleasure  of  the  editorial  which  it  was  his 
immediate  business  to  write.  His  brisk, 
crisp  chief,  Mr.  Blankinship,  came  in  for  a 
moment,  walking  testily  and  looking  like 
the  deuce. 

"  So  you  've  showed  up,  Aladdin,  have 
you?"  he  said.  "That  's  young  blood. 
If  any  question  of  politics  —  I  mean  pol 
icy —  arises,  I  leave  it  absolutely  to  you. 
I  'm  going  back  to  bed.  Can't  you  stop 
smoking  that  rotten  cigar  ?  " 

Aladdin  laughed  aloud,  and  Mr.  Blank 
inship  endeavored  to  smile. 

"Somewhere,"  he  said,  "in  this  tran- 
scendentally  beautiful  continent,  Aladdin, 
there  may  be  some  one  that  feels  worse 
than  I  do,  but  I  doubt  it."  He  turned  to  go. 

"Won't  Mr.  Orde  be  here  either?" 
said  Aladdin. 

"  No  ;  he  's  home  in  bed.  You  're  edi 
tor-in-chief  and  everything  else  for  the 
day,  see?  And  I  wish  I  was  dead."  Mr. 
Blankinship  nodded,  very  slightly,  for  it 
hurt,  and  went  out. 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

The  misery  of  others  is  a  great  cure: 
with  the  first  sight  of  Mr.  Blankinship, 
Aladdin's  headache  had  gone,  and  he  now 
pounced  upon  fresh  paper,  got  a  notion 
out  of  the  God-knows-where,  wrote  his 
editorial  at  full  speed,  and  finished  it 
without  once  removing  the  cigar  from 
his  mouth. 

He  had  just  done  when  the  shrewd,  inky 
little  boy,  who  did  everything  about  the 
"  Spy"  offices  which  nobody  else  would  do, 
entered  and  said  that  a  gentleman  wanted 
to  speak  with  Mr.  O'Brien.  Aladdin  had 
the  gentleman  shown  up,  and  recognized 
the  oldest  of  Hannibal  St.  John's  sons ;  he 
knew  them  well  by  sight,  but  it  so  hap 
pened  that  he  had  never  met  them.  They 
were  the  three  biggest  and  most  clean-cut 
young  men  in  Maine,  measuring  between 
six  feet  three  and  four;  erect,  massive, 
utterly  composed,  and,  if  anything,  a  little 
stronger  than  so  many  dray-horses.  They 
were  notable  shots,  great  fishermen,  and 
the  whole  State  was  beginning  to  speculate 
with  excitement  about  their  respective  fu- 
114 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

tures  and  the  present  almost  glittering 
success  of  the  law  firm  which  they  com 
posed.  The  oldest  was  the  tallest  and  the 
strongest.  He  had  been  known  to  break 
horseshoes  and  to  tear  a  silver  dollar 
in  two.  Iron  was  as  sealing-wax  in 
his  huge  hands.  His  habits  were  Spar 
tan.  The  second  son  was  almost  a 
replica  of  the  first  —  a  little  darker  and 
a  little  less  vivid.  The  third  was  like  the 
others ;  but  his  face  was  handsomer,  and 
not  so  strong.  He  was  of  a  more  gentle 
and  winning  disposition,  for  his  life  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  frailties.  The  girl  to 
whom  he  had  been  engaged  had  died,  and 
that  had  left  a  kind  of  sweetness,  almost 
beseechingness,  in  his  manner,  very  en 
gaging  in  so  tall  and  strong  a  man. 

"Mr.  O'Brien?"  said  John  St.  John. 

Aladdin  arose  and  held  out  his  long, 
slender  hand. 

Aladdin  had  a  way  of  moving  which 
was  very  individual  to  himself,  a  slight, 
ever  so  slight,  exaggeration  of  stride  and 
gesture,  a  kind  of  captivating  avvkward- 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

ness  and  diffidence  that  was  on  the  bor 
derland  of  grace  and  assurance.  Like  all 
slender  people  who  work  much  with  their 
heads,  he  had  a  strong  grip,  but  he  felt 
that  his  hand  was  as  inconsistent  as  an 
eel  when  St.  John's  closed  over  it. 

"  I  came  in  for  a  moment,"  said  St. 
John,  "to  say  that  we  are  all  exceedingly 
grateful  to  you.  Your  song  was  a  great 
factor  in  my  father's  reelection  to  the 
Senate.  But  we  do  not  hold  so  much  by 
the  song  as  by  the  good  will  which  you 
showed  us  in  writing  it.  I  want  you  to 
understand  and  believe  that  if  I  can  ever 
be  of  the  slightest  service  to  you,  I  will  go 
very  far  to  render  it." 

"  I  'm  as  obliged  as  I  can  be,"  said 
Aladdin.  "  It  's  mighty  good  of  you  to 
come  and  talk  to  me  like  this,  and  except 
for  the  good  will  I  have  toward  all  your 
family,  I  don't  deserve  it  a  bit." 

When  John  St.  John  had  gone,  the  inky 
boy  came  to  announce  that  another  gen 
tleman  wished  to  speak  with  Mr.  O'Brien. 

The  second  gentleman  proved  to  be  the 
second  brother,  Hamilton  St.  John. 
116 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Mr.  O'Brien?"  said  he. 

Aladdin  shook  hands  with  him. 

"  I  came  in  for  a  moment,"  said  Hamil 
ton  St.  John,  "for  the  pleasure  of  telling 
you  how  tremendously  grateful  we  all  are 
to  you  for  your  song,  which  was  such  a 
big  factor  in  my  father's  reelection  to  the 
Senate.  But  I  want  to  say,  too,  that  we  're 
more  grateful  for  your  good  will  than  for 
the  song,  and  if  I  can  ever  do  you  a  ser 
vice,  I  want  you  to  feel  perfectly  free  to 
come  and  ask  it  of  me,  whatever  it  is." 

Aladdin  could  have  laughed  for  joy. 
Margaret  did  not  seem  so  far  away  as 
sometimes. 

"I  'm  as  obliged  as  I  can  be,"  he  said. 
"It's  mighty  good  of  you  to  come  and 
talk  to  me  like  this,  and  except  for  the 
good  will  I  have  toward  all  your  family,  I 
don't  deserve  it  a  bit,  but  I  appreciate  it 
just  the  same." 

Presently  Hamilton  St.  John  departed. 

Again  the  inky  boy,  and  this  time  grin 
ning. 

"  There  's  a  gentleman  would   like  to 
speak  with  you,  sir,"  he  said. 
117 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Show  him  in,"  said  Aladdin. 
..  .Hannibal  St.  John,  Jr.,  entered. 

'  "  O'Brien," ~he  said,  "I  've  often  heard 
my  sister  Margaret  speak  about  you,  and 
I  've  been  meaning  for  ever  so  long  to 
look  you  up.  And  I  wish  I  'd  done  it 
before  I  had  such  an  awfully  good  excuse 
as  that  song  of  yours,  because  I  don't 
know  how  to  thank  you,  quite.  But  I 
want  you  to  understand  that  if  at  any  time 
—  rubbish,  you  know  what  I  mean.  Come 
up  to  the  club,  and  we  '11  make  a  drink 
and  talk  things  over." 

He  drew  Aladdin's  arm  into  his,  and 
they  went  out. 

Aladdin  had  never  before  felt  so  near 
Margaret. 

He  returned  to  the  office  in  half  an  hour, 
happy  and  a  slave.  Hannibal  St.  John, 
Jr.,  had  won  the  heart  right  out  of  him  in 
ten  minutes.  He  sat  musing  and  dream 
ing.  Was  he  to  be  one  of  those  chosen  ? 

"  Gentleman  to  see  you,  sir." 

"Show  him  in." 

The  inky  snickered  and  hurried  out.  He 
118 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

could  be  heard  saying  with  importance, 
"  This  way,  sir.  Look  out  for  that  press, 
sir.  It  's  very  dark  in  here,  sir."  And 
then,  like  a  smart  flunky  in  a  house  of  con 
dition,  he  appeared  again  at  the  door  and 
announced : 

"  Senator  Hannibal  St.  John." 

Aladdin  sprang  up. 

The  senator,  still  suffering  from  the 
gout,  and  leaning  heavily  on  his  whale 
bone  cane,  limped  majestically  in.  There 
was  an  amiability  on  his  face,  which  Alad 
din  had  never  seen  there  before.  He 
placed  a  chair  for  his  distinguished  guest. 
The  senator  removed  his  high  hat  and 
stood  it  upon  the  edge  of  Aladdin's  desk. 

"My  boy,"  he  said, — the  word  tingled 
from  Aladdin's  ears  to  his  heart,  for  it  was 
a  word  of  great  approachment  and  un 
bending, —  "I  am  very  grateful  for  your 
efforts  in  my  behalf.  I  will  place  honor 
where  honor  is  due,  and  say  that  I  owe 
my  recent  reelection  to  the  United  States 
Senate  not  so  much  to  my  more  experi 
enced  political  friends  as  to  you.  The 
119 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

present  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation 
calls  for  men  of  feeling  and  honor,  and  not 
for  politicians.  I  hope  that  you  will  not 
misconstrue  me  into  a  braggart  if  I  say 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  believe  that, 
in  returning  a  man  of  integrity  and  tradition 
to  his  seat  in  the  Congress  of  the  nation, 
you  have  rendered  a  service  to  the  nation." 

The  senator  paused,  and  Aladdin,  still 
standing,  waited  for  him  to  finish. 

"  After  a  week,"  said  the  senator,  "  I 
shall  return  to  my  duties  in  Washington. 
In  the  meanwhile,  Margaret"  (he  had 
hitherto  always  referred  to  her  before 
Aladdin  as  "my  daughter")  "and  I  are 
keeping  open  house,  and  if  it  will  give  you 
pleasure  we  shall  be  charmed"  (the  word 
fell  from  the  senator's  lips  like  a  complete 
poem)  "  to  have  you  make  us  a  visit.  Two 
of  my  sons  will  be  at  home,  and  other 
young  people." 

"  Indeed,  and  it  will  give  me  pleasure!" 
cried  Aladdin,  falling  into  the  least  sus 
picion  of  a  brogue. 

"  I  will  write  a  line  to  your  chief,"  con- 
120 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

tinned  the  senator,  "and  I  have  reason  to 
believe  that  he  will  see  you  excused.  We 
shall  expect  you  to-morrow  by  the  four- 
thirty." 

"I  'm  ever  so  much  obliged,  sir,"  said 
Aladdin. 

"My  boy,"  said  the  senator,  gravely, 
after  a  full  minute's  pause,  "we  are  all 
concerned  in  your  future,  which  promises 
to  be  a  brilliant  one.  It  rests  with  you. 
But,  if  an  old  man  may  be  permitted  a 
word  of  caution,  it  would  be  this  :  Let  your 
chief  recreation  lie  in  your  work ;  leave 
the  other  things.  Do  I  make  myself  clear 
enough?"  (Aladdin  nodded  guiltily.) 
"Leave  the  frailties  to  the  dullards  of  this 
world." 

He  rose  to  go. 

"My  young  friend,"  said  the  senator, 
"you  have  my  best  wishes." 

Grimacing  with  the  pain  in  his  foot, 
limping  badly,  but  always  stately  and 
impressive, —  almost  superimpending, — 
Hannibal  St.  John  moved  slowly  out  of 
the  office. 

121 


XV 

|HE  weather  turned  suddenly 
gusty  and  cold,  and  that  after 
noon  it  began  to  snow,  and  it 
kept  on  snowing.  All  night  fine  dry 
flakes  fell  in  unexampled  profusion,  and 
by  morning  the  face  of  the  land  was  many 
inches  deep.  Nor  did  the  snow  then  cease. 
All  the  morning  it  continued  to  fall  with 
vigor.  The  train  by  which  Aladdin  was 
to  go  to  the  St.  Johns'  left  at  two-thirty, 
arriving  there  two  hours  later ;  and  it  was 
with  numb  feet  and  stinging  ears  that  he 
entered  the  car  reserved  for  smokers,  and, 
bundling  in  a  somewhat  threadbare  over 
coat,  endeavored  to  make  himself  com 
fortable  for  the  journey.  As  the  train 
creaked  and  jerked  out  of  the  protecting 
station,  the  storm  smote  upon  the  windows 
122 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

with  a  noise  like  thrown  sand,  and  a  back 
draft  down  the  chimney  of  the  iron  stove 
in  one  end  of  the  car  sent  out  puffs  of 
smutty  smoke  at  whatever  points  the  vari 
ous  castings  of  the  stove  came  together 
with  insufficient  snugness.  There  were 
but  half  a  dozen  people  in  the  whole  train. 

"Troubles,  old  man,"  said  Aladdin,  for 
so  he  was  in  the  habit  of  addressing  him 
self  at  moments  of  self-communication, 
"  this  is  going  to  be  the  slowest  kind  of  a 
trip,  but  we  're  going  to  enjoy  every  min 
ute  of  it,  because  it  's  taking  us  to  the 
place  where  we  would  be — God  bless  her ! " 

Aladdin  took  a  cigar  from  his  breast 
pocket. 

"Troubles,"  said  he,  "may  I  offer  you 
a  smoke?  What?  Oh,  you  're  very  much 
obliged  and  don't  mind  if  you  do.  There 
you  are,  then."  Aladdin  sent  out  a  great 
puff  of  white  smoke ;  this  turned  into  a  blue 
wraith,  drifted  down  the  aisle,  between 
the  seats,  gathering  momentum  as  it  went, 
and  finally,  with  the  rapidity  of  a  mint- 
julep  mounting  a  sucked  straw  (that  is  n't 
123 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

split)  and  spun  long  and  fine,  it  was  drawn 
through  a  puncture  of  the  isinglass  in  the 
stove  door  and  went  up  the  chimney  in 
company  with  other  smoke,  and  out  into 
the  storm.  Aladdin,  full  of  anticipation 
and  glee,  smoked  away  with  great  spirit. 
Presently,  for  the  car  was  empty  but  for 
himself,  Aladdin  launched  into  the  rollick 
ing  air  of  "  Red  Renard  "  : 

Three  scarlet  huntsmen  rode  up  to  White  Plains 
With  a  carol  of  voices  and  jangle  of  chains, 
For  the  morning  was  blue  and  the  morning  was  fair, 
And  the  word  ran,  "  Red  Renard  is  waiting  us  there." 

He  puffed  at  his  cigar  a  moment  to  be  sure 
that  its  fire  should  not  flag,  and  sang  on : 

The  first  scarlet  huntsman  blew  into  his  horn, 
"  Lirala,  Lovely  Morning,  I  'm  glad  I  was  born  " ; 
The  second  red  huntsman  he  whistled  an  air, 
And  the  third  sang,  "  Red  Renard  is  waiting  us  there." 

"Just  such  weather  as  this,  Troubles,"  he 
said,  looking  out  into  the  swirl  of  snow. 
"Just  the  beautifulest  kind  of  cross-coun 
try  weather  !  "     He  sang  on  : 
124 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Three  lovely  ladies  they  met  at  the  meet, 
With  whips  in  their  hands  and  with  boots  on  their  feet ; 
And  the  gentlemen  lifted  their  hats  with  a  cheer, 
As  the  girls  said,  "  Red  Renard  is  waiting  you  here." 

He  quickened    into  the  stanza  he  liked 
best: 

Three  scarlet  huntsmen  rode  off  by  the  side 

Of  three  lovely  ladies  on  horses  of  pride. 

Said  the  first,  "  Call  me  Ellen  " ;  the  second,  "  I  'm 

Claire  " ; 
Said  the  third,  "  I  'm  Red  Renard  —  so  called  from 

my  hair." 

The  train,  which  had  been  running  more 
slowly,  drew  up  with  a  chug,  and  some 
minutes  passed  before  it  again  gathered 
itself  and  lurched  on. 

"That  s  all  right,"  said  Aladdin.  He 
was  quite  warm  now,  and  thoroughly 
happy. 

Three  scarlet  huntsmen  rode  home  from  White  Plains, 
With  its  mud  on  their  boots,  and  its  girls  on  their 

brains ; 

And  the  first  sang  of  Ellen,  the  second  of  Claire, 
But  the  third  sang,  "  Red  Renard  is  waiting  back 

there." 

125 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 
He  made  a  waggish  face  to  finish  with: 

Three  scarlet  huntsmen  got  into  frock-coats, 

And  they  pinched  their  poor  feet,  and  they  tortured 

their  throats  ; 

And  the  first  married  Ellen,  the  second  wed  Claire, 
While  the  third  said,  "  Re  Renar  izh  waishing  back 

zhere." 

He  assumed  the  expression  for  a  moment 
of  one  astutely  drunk. 

"  A  has  !"  he  said,  for  this  much  of  the 
French  language  was  his  to  command, 
and  no  more.  He  turned  and  attempted 
to  look  out.  He  yawned.  Presently  he 
threw  away  the  reeking  butt  of  his  cigar, 
closed  his  eyes,  and  fell  asleep. 

The  water  below  the  veranda  was  alive 
with  struggling  fishes  in  high  hats  and 
frock-coats.  Each  fish  had  a  label  painted 
across  his  back  with  his  name  and  address 
neatly  printed  on  it,  and  each  fish  was 
struggling  to  reach  a  tiny  minnow-hook, 
naked  of  bait,  which  dangled  just  out  of 
reach  above  the  water.  The  baitless  hook 
126 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

was  connected  by  a  fine  line  (who  ever 
heard  of  baiting  a  line  at  the  wrong  end  ?) 
with  Margaret's  hand.  She  had  on  a 
white  dress  stamped  with  big  pink  roses, 
and  there  was  a  pale-green  ribbon  round 
the  middle  of  it;  her  hair  was  done  up  for 
the  first  time,  and  she  was  leaning  over  the 
railing,  which  was  made  of  safety-lamps 
and  stranglers  alternately,  painted  light 
blue,  regarding  the  struggling  fishes 
with  a  look  at  once  full  of  curiosity  and 
pity.  Presently  one  of  the  fishes'  labels 
soaked  off,  and  went  hurtling  out  to  sea, 
with  the  fish  weeping  bitterly  and  follow 
ing  at  express  speed,  until  in  less  than  one 
moment  both  label  and  fish  were  hull 
down  below  the  horizon.  Then  another 
label  washed  off,  and  then  another  and 
another,  and  fish  after  fish,  in  varying 
states  of  distraction,  followed  after  and  dis 
appeared,  until  all  you  could  see  were 
two,  whereof  the  one  was  labeled  Manners 
and  the  other  O'Brien  (these  continued  to 
fight  for  the  hook),  and  all  you  could  hear 
was  Neptune,  from  down,  down,  down  in 
127 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  sea,  saying  coquettishly  to  Cleopatra, 
"  I  'm  Red  Renard  —  so  called  from  my 
hair."  And  then  all  of  a  sudden  valiant 
Captain  Kissed-by-Margaret  went  by  on 
a  log  writing  mottos  for  the  wives  of 
famous  men.  And  then  Manners  and 
O'Brien,  struggling  desperately  to  drown 
each  other,  sank  down,  down,  down,  and 
Cleopatra  could  be  heard  saying  perfectly 
logically  to  Neptune,  "You  did  rit!" 
And  then  there  was  a  tremendous  shower 
of  roses,  and  the  dream  went  out  like  a 
candle. 

Aladdin  opened  his  eyes  and  stroked  his 
chin.  He  was  troubled  about  the  dream. 
The  senator  had  spoken  to  him  of  "others." 
Could  Peter  Manners  possibly  be  there? 
Was  that  the  especial  demolishment  that 
fate  held  in  store  for  him  ?  He  was  very 
wide  awake  now. 

At  times,  owing  to  the  opaqueness  of 
the  storm,  it  was  impossible  to  see  out  of 
the  car  window.  But  there  were  moments 
when  a  sudden  rush  of  wind  blew  a  path 
for  the  eye,  and  by  such  occasional  pic- 
128 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

tures  —  little  long  of  the  instantaneous  — 
one  could  follow  the  progress  of  the  bliz 
zard.  Aladdin  saw  a  huddle  of  sheep  big 
with  snow;  then  a  man  getting  into  a 
house  by  the  window ;  an  ancient  apple- 
tree  with  a  huge  limb  torn  off;  two  tele 
graph  poles  that  leaned  toward  each  other, 
like  one  man  fixing  another's  cravat;  and 
he  caught  glimpses  of  wires  broken, 
loosened,  snarled,  and  fuzzy  with  snow. 
Then  the  train  crawled  over  a  remembered 
trestle,  and  Aladdin  knew  that  he  was 
within  four  miles  of  his  station,  and  within 
three  of  the  St.  Johns'  house  by  the  best 
of  short  cuts  across  country.  He  looked 
precisely  in  its  direction,  and  kissed  his 
fingers  to  Margaret,  and  wondered  what 
she  was  doing.  Then  there  was  a  rum 
bling,  jumping  jar,  and  the  train  stopped. 
Minute  after  minute  went  by.  Aladdin 
waited  impatiently  for  the  train  to  start. 
The  conductor  passed  hurriedly  through. 

"  What 's  up?  "  called  Aladdin  after  him. 

"  Up  !  "  cried  the  conductor.    "  We  're  off 
the  track." 

"  Can't  we  go  on  to-night?" 
9  129 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Nup!"  The  conductor  passed  out  of 
the  car  and  banged  the  door. 

"  Got  to  sit  here  all  night !  "  said  Alad 
din.  "Not  much!  Get  up,  Troubles! 
If  you  don't  think  I  know  the  way  about 
here,  you  can  stay  by  the  stove.  I  'm 
going  to  walk." 

Aladdin  and  Troubles  rose,  buttoned 
their  coat,  left  the  car,  and  set  out  in  the 
direction  of  the  St.  Johns'.  Aladdin's 
watch  at  starting  read  five  o'clock. 

"  Our  luggage  is  all  checked,  Troubles," 
he  said,  "and  all  we  Ve  got  to  face  is  the 
idea  of  walking  three  miles  through  very 
disagreeable  weather,  over  a  broad  path 
that  we  know  like  the  palm  of  our  hand 
(which  we  don't  know  as  well  as  we 
might),  arriving  late,  wet  to  the  skin,  and 
without  a  change  of  clothes.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  shall  deserve  a  long  clrink  and 
much  sympathy.  As  for  you,  Troubles, 
you  're  the  best  company  I  know,  and  all 
is  well." 

The  first  scarlet  huntsman  blew  into  his  horn, 
"  Lirala,  Lovely  Morning,  I  'm  glad  I  was  born." 

130 


XVI 

>T  first  the  way,  lying  through 
waist-high  fir  scrub,  was  pretty 
bad  underfoot,  but  beyond  was 
a  stretch  of  fine  timber,  where  the  trees 
had  done  much  to  arrest  the  snow,  and  the 
going  was  not  so  severe.  Aladdin  calcu 
lated  that  he  should  make  the  distance  in 
an  hour  and  a  half;  and  when  the  wood 
ended,  he  looked  at  his  watch  and  found 
that  the  first  mile,  together  with  only 
twenty-five  minutes,  was  behind  him. 

''That  's  the  rate  of  an  hour  and  a 
quarter,  Troubles,"  he  said.  "And  that  's 
good  time.  Are  you  listening?" 

But  following  the  wood  was  a  great 
open  space  of  country  pitched  up  from  the 
surrounding  levels,  and  naked  to  every 
fury  of  nature.  Across  that  upland  the 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

wind  blew  a  wicked  gale,  scarifying  the 
tops  of  knolls  to  the  brown,  dead  grass, 
and  filling  the  hollows  flush  with  snow. 
At  times,  to  keep  from  being  blown  over, 
it  was  necessary  to  lean  against  the  gusts. 
Aladdin  was  conscious  of  not  making  very 
rapid  progress,  but  there  was  something 
exhilarating  in  the  wildness,  the  bitter 
cold,  and  the  roar  of  the  wind ;  it  had  an 
effect  as  of  sea  thundering  upon  beach, 
great  views  from  mountain-tops,  black 
wild  nights,  the  coming  of  thunder  and 
freshness  after  intense  heat,  or  any  of  the 
thousand  and  one  vaster  demonstrations 
of  nature.  Now  and  again  Aladdin  sang 
snatches  of  song : 

Gaily  bedight, 

A  gallant  knight 
In  sunshine  and  shadow 

Journeyed  long, 

Singing  a  song, 
In  search  of  El  Dorado. 

Or  from  "  The  Mole  of  Marimolena  "  : 

I  was  turning  fifty -odd  when  the  everlasting  God 
Smote  a  path  of  molten  gold  across  the  blue, 

132 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

Says,  "  There  's  many  million  men  would  have  done 

the  like  again, 

But  you  did  n't,  and,  my  man,  there  's  hope  for 
you. 

"  Start  sheets  and  sail  for  the  Mole  — 
For  the  old  rotten  Mole  of  Marimolena ; 
There  's  maybe  some  one  there 
That  you  're  longing  to  treat  fair, 
On  the  dismal,  woeful  Mole  of  Marimolena." 

And  other  deep-sea  chanteys, —  the  one 
in  which  the  pirate  found  the  Lady  in  the 
C-a-a-bin  and  slivered  off  her  head, —  or 
back  to  Red  Renard,  or  further  to  his  own 
campaign  song,  and  furthest  of  all  to  the 
bad,  bad  young  dog  of  a  crow.  Then  he 
got  quite  out  of  breath,  and  pausing  for  a 
moment  to  catch  it,  noted  for  the  first  time 
the  extreme  bitterness  of  the  cold.  It 
stung  the  face  like  insects.  "Woof!  "  he 
said.  "  And  now  for  lost  time." 

Again  he  stepped  out,  but  with  each  step 
the  snow  became  deeper,  and  presently  he 
floundered  in  to  his  waist.  "  Must  be 
a  ditch ! "  he  said,  turning  a  little  to 
the  right  and  exclaiming,  "  Thought  so  !  " 

133 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

as  the  wading  got  shallower.  Whereupon 
he  stepped  into  a  deep  hole  and  fell. 
After  plunging  and  plowing  about,  it  was 
brought  home  to  him  that  he  had  lost  the 
path.  Even  at  that  the  difficulty  remained 
one  of  hard  walking  alone,  for  he  had  been 
familiar  with  that  country  since  childhood, 
and  knew  the  precise  direction  in  which  it 
was  necessary  for  him  to  locomote.  It 
was  a  pity  that  the  only  structure  in  the 
vicinity  was  an  ancient  and  deserted  house, 
-  it  lay  just  off  there, —  as  he  should  have 
liked  to  have  warmed  himself  by  a  good 
fire  before  going  farther.  He  remembered 
that  there  were  a  partly  preserved  stove 
in  the  deserted  house,  broken  laths,  and 
naily  boards,  and  swathes  of  curious  old 
wall-papers,  layer  upon  layer,  which,  damp 
ening  and  rotting  from  the  wall,  hung 
raggedly  down.  He  had  once  explored 
the  house  with  Margaret,  and  it  seemed 
almost  wise  to  go  to  the  place  and  make 
a  fire.  But  on  account  of  the  delay  in 
volved  and  the  approach  of  darkness,  he 
discarded  the  notion,  and,  a  little  impa- 

134 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

tient  at  being  badly  used  by  a  neighbor 
hood  he  knew  so  well,  struggled  on. 

"Troubles,"  he  said,  "what  sort  of  a 
storm  is  this  anyway  ?  Did  you  ever  see 
anything  quite  like  it  round  here  ?  Because 
I  never  did.  It  must  be  like  those  things 
they  have  out  West,  when  millions  of  poor 
little  baa-sheeps  and  horses  and  catties 
freeze  to  death.  I  'd  hate  to  be  a  horse 
out  in  this,  but  I  wish  I  had  one.  I  — " 

If,  as  a  child,  you  have  ever  slipped, 
though  only  an  inch,  while  climbing  over 
roofs,  you  will  know  that  sudden,  stabbing, 
sinking  feeling  that  came  to  Aladdin  and 
stopped  the  beating  of  his  heart  by  the 
hairbreadth  of  a  second.  He  had  been 
proceeding  chin  on  breast,  and  head  bent 
against  the  wind,  or  he  would  have  seen 
it  before,  for  it  was  a  notable  landmark  in 
that  part  of  the  world,  and  showed  him 
that  he  had  been  making  way,  not  toward 
his  destination,  but  toward  the  wilderness. 

He  gazed  up  at  the  great  black  blasted 
pine,  its  waist  the  height  of  a  tall  tree, 
and  its  two  lonely  lightning-scathed  and 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

white  arms  stretched  out  like  a  maledic 
tion  ;  and  for  a  moment  he  had  to  take  him 
self  in  hand.  After  a  little  he  mastered 
the  fear  that  had  seized  him. 

"  It  's  only  a  poor  old  lonely  vegetable 
out  in  the  cold,"  he  said.  "  And  it  shows 
us  exactly  where  we  are  and  exactly  which 
way  we  have  to  go." 

He  set  himself  right,  and,  with  head 
lowered  and  hands  clenched,  again 
started  on.  But  he  was  beginning  to  be 
very  much  bored,  and  sensible  that  his 
legs  were  not  accustomed  to  being  used 
so  hard.  Furthermore,  there  was  a  little 
difficulty  —  not  by  any  means  an  insur 
mountable  one — in  steering  straight,  be 
cause  of  the  constantly  varying  point  of 
the  compass  in  which  the  wind  blew.  He 
went  on  for  a  long  time.  .  .  . 

He  began  to  look  for  the  high  ground 
to  decline,  as  it  should,  about  now,  if  it 
was  the  high  ground  he  took  it  for.  "  I 
ought  to  be  getting  somewhere,"  he  said. 

And,  God  help  him !  tired  out,  half 
frozen  and  very  foot-sore,  he  was  getting 

136 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

somewhere,  for,  glancing  up,  he  again  be 
held  the  gigantic  and  demoniac  shape  of 
the  blasted  pine. 

It  is  on  prairies  and  among  mountains, 
far  from  the  habitations  of  men,  that  man 
is  most  readily  terrified  before  nature,  and 
not  on  the  three-mile  primrose  way  from 
a  railway  accident  to  a  house-party.  But 
for  a  moment  cold  terror  struck  at  Alad 
din  like  a  serpent,  and  the  marrow  in  his 
bones  froze.  Before  he  could  succeed  in 
reducing  this  awful  feeling  to  one  of  acute 
anxiety  alone,  he  had  to  talk  to  himself 
and  explain  things  as  to  a  child. 

"Then  it  is  true,  Troubles,  old  man," he 
said,  "about  a  person's  tendency  to  go  to 
the  left.  That's  interesting,  is  n't  it?  But 
what  do  we  care  ?  Being  gifted  with  a 
certain  (flighty,  it  is  true)  intelligence,  we 
will  simply  take  pains,  and  every  step  pull 
a  little  to  the  right ;  and  that  will  make 
us  go  straight.  Come  now — keep  think 
ing  about  it — every  step  !" 

As  the  end  of  the  day  approached,  a 
lull  came  in  the  gale,  and  the  snow  fell  less 

137 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

freely.  The  consequently  widened  horizon 
of  vision  was  eminently  comforting,  and 
Aladdin's  unpleasant  feeling  of  anxiety 
almost  disappeared. 

Suddenly  he  was  aware  of  a  red  horse. 


138 


XVII 

>T  was  standing  almost  leg-clear, 
in  an  angle  of  what  seemed  a 
drifted-over  snake-fence.  Its 
ugly,  Roman-nosed  head  was  thrown  up 
and  out,  as  if  about  to  neigh. 

"  Poor  beastie,"  said  Aladdin,  after  a 
start.  "  You  must  be  drefful  cold,  but 
we  '11  ride  you,  and  that  will  make  you 
warm,  and  us  cold,  and  we  '11  all  get  along 
faster." 

Drawing  near,  he  began  to  gentle 
the  horse  and  call  it  pet  names.  It  was  a 
huge  brute,  over  seventeen  hands  high, 
and  Aladdin,  aided  only  by  a  rickety  fence, 
and  a  pair  of  legs  that  would  hardly  sup 
port  him,  was  appalled  by  the  idea  of  having 
to  climb  to  that  lofty  eminence,  its  back. 
Without  doubt  he  was  dreadfully  tired. 

139 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"The  fence  will  help,  old  man,"  he  said. 
"  Here,  you,  pay  attention  and  get  over." 
He  tried  to  insinuate  himself  between  the 
horse  and  the  fence,  but  the  horse  did  not 
seem  inclined  to  move. 

"  Get  over,  you  !  "  he  said,  and  gave  a 
shove.  The  horse  moved  a  little,  very 
unwillingly.  "  Farther  yet,"  said  Aladdin. 
"  Get  over,  you,  get  over."  Again  he 
shoved ;  this  time  harder.  He  slapped 
the  great  shoulder  with  his  open  hand. 
And  again  the  horse  moved,  but  very 
slowly.  "  You  're  an  unwilling  brute, 
are  n't  you  ?  "  he  said  angrily. 

For  answer  the  thing  tottered,  and,  to 
his  horror,  began  to  fall,  at  first  slowly, 
but  ever  with  accelerating  speed,  until,  in 
the  exact  attitude  in  which  it  had  stood  by 
the  fence, —  the  great  Roman-nosed  head 
thrown  up  and  out,  as  if  to  neigh, — he 
beheld  the  horse  stretched  before  him  on 
the  ground,  and  noted  for  the  first  time 
the  awful  death-like  glint  of  the  yellow 
teeth  through  the  parting  of  the  lips. 

He  went  very  gravely  from  that  place, 
140 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

for  he  had  been  looking  upon  death  by 
freezing,  and  he  himself  was  terribly  cold, 
terribly  tired,  and — he  admitted  it  now — 
completely  lost. 

But  he  went  on  for  a  long  time  —  four 
or  five  hundred  years.  And  it  grew 
darker  and  colder. 

He  began  to  talk  to  himself,  to  try  and 
steady  himself,  as  he  had  done  ever  since 
childhood  at  forsaken  times. 

"Troubles,"  he  said,  "you  're  full  of 
troubles,  are  n't  you,  old  man  ?  You 
always  were.  But  this  is  the  worst.  You 
can't  walk  very  much  farther,  can  you  ?  I 
can't.  And  if  you  don't  get  helped  by 
some  one  pretty  soon,  you  're  going  to 
come  to  the  end  of  your  troubles.  And, 
Troubles,  do  you  know,  I  think  that  's 
what  's  going  to  happen  to  you  and  me, 
and  I  want  you  to  stand  up  to  it  if  it 
comes  [gulp]  and  face  it  like  a  man. 
Now  let  's  rest  a  little,  Troubles,  will 
we?" 

Troubles  and  Aladdin  rested  a  little. 
When  the  rest  was  over  they  could  hardly 
141 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

move,  and  they  began  to  see  the  end  of  a 
young  man  that  they  had  hoped  would 
live  a  long  time  and  be  very  happy.  They 
went  on. 

"  Troubles,"  said  Aladdin,  "  do  you  sup 
pose  she  knows  that  we  are  out  here,  per 
haps  dying  ?  We  would  know  if  she  were, 
would  n't  we  ?  And  do  you  think  she 
cares?  Liar,  you  know  she  cares,  and  a 
lot.  She  would  n't  be  she  if  she  did  n't 
care.  But  we  did  n't  think  that  all  the 
years  of  waiting  and  hoping  and  loving 
and  trying  to  be  something  would  end 
like  this,  did  we,  Troubles  ?  We  thought 
that  it  might  end  with  the  godlike  Man 
ners  (whom  we  would  n't  help  if  he  were 
freezing  to  death,  would  we  ?),  but  not  like 
this  —  O  Lord  God,  not  like  this!  .  .  . 
And  we  were  n't  sure  it  would  end  with 
Manners ;  we  were  going  to  fight  it  out 
to  a  mighty  good  finish,  were  n't  we, 
Troubles  ?  But  now  it  's  going  to  end  in 
a  mighty  good  storm,  and  you  're  going 
to  die  for  all  your  troubles,  Troubles.  .  .  . 
And  I  'm  talking  to  you  so  that  we  won't 
142 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

lose  our  sand,  even  if  we  are  afraid  to  die, 
and  there  's  no  one  looking  on." 

Though  Aladdin  stopped  making  talk 
in  his  head,  the  talk  kept  going  on  by 
itself;  and  he  suddenly  shouted  aloud  for 
it  to  stop.  Then  he  began  to  whimper 
and  shiver,  for  he  thought  that  his  mind 
was  going. 

Presently  he  shook  himself. 

"Troubles,"  he  said,  "we  Ve  only  a 
little  farther  to  go  — just  as  far  as  our  feet 
will  carry  us,  and  no  farther.  That  's  the 
proper  way  to  finish.  And  for  God's  sake 
keep  sane.  We  won't  give  her  up  yet !  " 

Ten  steps  and  years  passed. 

"Troubles,"  said  Aladdin,  "we  're  go 
ing  to  call  for  help,  and  if  it  don't  come, 
which  it  won't,  we  're  going  to  try  and  be 
calm.  It  seems  simplest  and  looks  best 
to  be  calm." 

Aladdin  stood  there  crying  aloud  for 
the  help  of  man,  but  it  did  not  come.  And 
then  he  cried  for  the  help  of  God.  And 
he  stood  there  waiting  —  waiting  for  it  to 
come. 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  We  must  help  ourselves,  Troubles," 
he  said,  with  a  desperate  effort  to  be  calm. 
"  We  Ve  got  ten  steps  left  in  us.  Now, 
then,  one  —  two — " 

During  the  taking  of  those  ten  steps  the 
snow  ceased  entirely  to  fall,  and  black 
night  enveloped  the  earth. 

Aladdin  was  all  numb,  and  he  wished  to 
sleep,  but  he  made  the  ten  steps  into 
eleven,  twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,  before 
his  limbs  refused  to  act,  and  he  fell  for 
ward  in  the  snow.  He  managed  to  raise 
himself  and  crawl  a  little  way.  He  saw  a 
light  afar  off,  and  guessing  that  it  must  be 
an  angel,  held  out  his  hands  to  it  —  and 
one  of  them  encountered  a  something  in 
the  dark. 

Even  through  his  thick  mitten  it  felt 
round  and  smooth  and  colder  than  his  fin 
gers,  like  a  ball  of  ice.  Then  Aladdin 
laughed  aloud,  for  he  knew  that  his  last 
walk  upon  earth  had  been  in  the  form  of 
a  silly  circle.  He  had  returned  to  the  dead 
horse,  and  his  gloved  hand  was  resting 
upon  its  frozen  eye.  He  shrieked  with 
144 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

laughter  and  became  heavy  with  a  desire 
to  sleep. 

He  sank  deliciously  down,  and  began  to 
see  showers  of  roses,  when  it  flashed  upon 
him  that  this  was  not  sleep,  but  death. 

It  was  like  lifting  prodigious  dumb-bells 
to  get  his  eyes  to  open,  and  a  return  to 
consciousness  was  like  the  stabbing  of 
knives.  But  he  opened  his  eyes  and 
roused  himself. 

"  I  won't  give  her  up  yet,"  he  cried. 

And  then,  by  the  help  of  God  Almighty, 
he  crawled  the  whole  length  of  the  horse. 

And  fell  asleep. 


XVIII 

was  a  miserable,  undressed 
thing  wrapped  in  a  horse-blanket 
and  a  buffalo-robe  that  woke  up 
in  front  of  a  red-hot  stove  and  remembered 
that  it  used  to  be  Aladdin  O'Brien.  It 
had  a  dreadful  headache,  and  could  smell 
whisky  and  feel  warm,  and  that  for  a 
long  time  was  about  all.  Then  it  noticed 
that  the  wall  opposite  was  ragged  with 
loosened  wall-paper  and  in  places  stripped 
of  plaster,  so  that  the  lathing  showed 
through,  and  that  in  its  own  head  —  no,  in 
the  room  beyond  the  wall  —  an  impatient 
stamping  noise  of  iron  on  wood  was  oc 
curring  at  intervals.  Then  it  managed  to 
turn  its  head,  and  it  saw  a  big,  beautiful 
man  sitting  on  the  end  of  an  old  soap 
box  and  smoking  a  pipe.  Then  it  was 
146 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

seized  with  a  wrenching  sickness,  and  the 
big  man  came  quickly  and  held  its  head 
and  was  very  good  to  it,  and  it  felt  better 
and  went  to  sleep.  After  a  while  it  de 
scended  into  the  Red  Sea,  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  calling  Neptune  Red  Renard 
to  his  face,  and  when  it  got  to  the  bottom, 
which  was  of  red  brick  sprinkled  with 
white  door-knobs  that  people  kept  diving 
for,  it  became  frightened  and  ran  and  ran 
until  it  came  to  the  bottom  of  an  iceberg, 
that  had  roots  like  a  hyacinth  bulb  and 
was  looking  for  a  place  to  plant  itself,  and 
it  climbed  up  to  the  top  of  the  iceberg, 
which  was  all  bulrushes,  and  said,  "  I  beg 
your  pardon,  but  I  forgot ;  I  must  go  back 
and  make  my  apologies."  Then  it  woke 
up  and  spoke  in  a  weak  voice. 

"Peter  Manners,"  said  Aladdin,  "come 
here." 

Manners  came  and  sat  on  the  floor  be 
side  him. 

"  Feel  better  now  ? "  he  said. 

"Tell  me  —  "  said  Aladdin. 

"Oh,  stuff!"  said  Manners. 
147 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Manners,"  said  Aladdin,  "you  don't 
look  as  if  you  hated  me  any  more." 

"You  sleep,"  said  Manners.  "That's 
what  you  need." 

Aladdin  thought  for  a  long  time  and 
tried  to  remember  what  he  wanted  to  say, 
and  shutting  his  eyes,  to  think  better,  fell 
asleep. 

For  the  third  time  he  awoke.  Manners 
was  back  on  the  soap-box,  still  as  a  sphinx, 
and  smoking  his  pipe. 

"  Please  come  and  talk  some  more," 
said  Aladdin. 

Again  Manners  came. 

"Tell  me  about  it,"  said  Aladdin. 

"You  be  good  and  go  to  sleep,"  said 
Manners. 

"What  time  is  it?" 

"  Nearly  morning." 

"Still  storming?" 

"  No ;   stars  out  and  warmer." 

Aladdin  thought  a  moment. 

"  Manners,"  he  said,  "  please  talk  to  me. 
How  did  you  find  me  ? " 

"  Simply  enough,"  said  Manners.  "  I 
148 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

took  the  senator's  cutter  out  for  a  little 
drive,  and  got  lost.  Then  I  heard  some 
body  laughing,  and  I  stumbled  over  you 
and  your  horse;  that  's  all.  How  the  devil 
did  you  manage  to  lose  your  saddle  and 
bridle?" 

"  It  was  a  dead  horse,"  said  Aladdin, 
and  he  shivered  at  the  recollection. 

"Quite  so,"  said  Manners. 

"It  was  the  funniest  thing,"  said  Alad 
din,  and  again  he  shuddered  with  a  kind 
of  reminiscent  revolt.  "  I  pushed  it,  and 
it  fell  over  frozen  to  death."  He  was  con 
scious  of  talking  nonsense. 

"Wait  a  minute,  Manners,"  he  said. 
"  I  '11  be  sensible  in  a  minute." 

Presently  he  told  Manners  about  the 
horse. 

"  I  saw  a  light  just  then,"  he  said,  "and 
I  thought  it  was  an  angel." 

"  It  was  I,"  said  Manners,  nai'vely. 

"Yes,  Manners,  it  was  you,"  said 
Aladdin. 

He  thought  about  an  angel  turning  out 
to  be  Manners  for  a  long  time.  Then  a 
149 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

terrible  recollection  came  to  him,  and,  in  a 
voice  shaking  with  remorse  and  self-in- 
crimination,  he  cried : 

"  God  help  me,  Manners,  I  would  have 
let  you  freeze." 

Manners  pulled  at  his  pipe. 

"Manners,"  said  Aladdin,  "it's  true  — 
I  know  it 's  true,  because,  for  all  I  knew,  I 
was  dying  when  I  said  it." 

Manners  shook  his  head. 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Manners. 

"  Make  me  think  that,"  said  Aladdin, 
with  a  quaver.  "  Please  make  me  think 
that  if  you  can,  for,  God  help  me,  I  think  I 
would  have  let  you  freeze." 

"  When  I  found  you,"  said  Manners, 
"I  —  I  was  sorry  that  the  Lord  had  n't 
sent  somebody  else  to  you,  and  me  to 
somebody  else.  That  was  because  you 
always  hated  me  with  no  very  good  rea 
son,  and  a  man  hates  to  be  hated,  and  so, 
to  be  quite  honest,  I  hated  you  back." 

"Right,"  said  Aladdin,  "right." 

Light  began  to  come  in  through  the 
windows,  whose  broken  panes  Manners 
had  stopped  with  crumpled  wall-paper. 

150 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"But  when  I  got  you  here,"  said  Man 
ners,  "a.rid  began  to  work  over  you,  you 
stopped  being  Aladdin  O'Brien,  and  were 
just  a  man  in  trouble." 

"Yes,"  said  Aladdin,  "it  must  be  like 
that.  It  's  got  to  be  like  that." 

"At  first,"  said  Manners,  "I  worked 
because  it  seemed  the  proper  thing  to  do, 
and  then  I  got  interested,  and  then  it  be 
came  terrible  to  think  that  you  might  die." 

"Yes,"  said  Aladdin.  His  face  was 
ghastly  in  the  presunrise  light. 

"You  would  n't  get  warm  for  hours," 
said  Manners,  "  and  I  got  so  tired  that  I 
could  n't  rub  any  more,  and  so  I  stripped 
and  got  into  the  blankets  with  you,  and 
tried  to  keep  you  as  warm  as  I  could  that 
way." 

He  paused  to  relight  his  pipe. 

Aladdin  stared  up  at  the  tattered  ceiling 
with  wide,  wondering  eyes. 

"When  you  got  warm,"  said  Manners, 
"I  gave  you  all  the  rest  of  the  whisky, 
and  I  'm  sorry  it  made  you  sick,  and  now 
you  're  as  fit  as  a  fiddle." 

"Fit — as — a — fiddle,"    said     Aladdin, 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

slowly,  as  the  wonder  grew.  And  then  he 
began  to  cry  like  a  little  child.  Manners 
waited  till  he  had  done,  and  then  wiped 
his  face  for  him. 

"  So  you  see,"  said  Manners,  simply, 
though  with  difficulty, —  for  he  was  a  man 
shy,  to  terror,  of  discussing  his  own  feel 
ings, — "  I  can't  help  liking  you  now,  and 
—  and  I  hope  you  won't  feel  so  hard 
toward  me  any  more." 

"  /  feel  hard  toward  you  /  "  said  Alad 
din.  "  Oh,  Manners  !  "  he  cried.  "  I 
thought  all  along  that  you  were  just  a 
man  that  knew  about  horses  and  dogs, 
but  I  see,  I  see ;  and  I  'm  not  going  to 
worship  anybody  any  more  except  you 
and  God,  I  'm  not ! " 

Then  he  had  another  great  long,  hot 
cry.  Manners  waited  patiently  till  it  was 
over. 

"  Manners,"  said  Aladdin,  in  a  choky, 
hoarse  voice,  "  I  think  you  're  different 
from  what  you  used  to  be.  You  look  as 
if —  as  if  you  'd  got  the  love  of  mankind 
in  you." 

152 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Manners  did  not  answer.  He  appeared 
to  be  thinking  of  something  wonderful. 

"  Do  you  think  that 's  it?  "  cried  Aladdin. 

Manners  did  not  answer. 

"Can't  I  get  it,  too?"  Aladdin  cried. 
"  Have  I  got  to  be  little  and  mean  always  ? 
So  help  me,  Manners,  I  don't  love  any  one 
but  you  and  her." 

"  You  're  not  fit  to  talk,"  said  Manners, 
with  great  gentleness.  "  You  go  to  sleep." 
He  arose,  and  going  to  the  door  of  the 
house,  opened  it  a  little  way  and  looked 
out. 

"  It  's  warm  as  toast  out,  Aladdin,"  he 
called.  "There  's  going  to  be  a  big 
thaw."  He  closed  the  door  and  went  into 
the  next  room,  and  Aladdin  could  hear 
him  talking  to  the  horse.  After  a  little 
he  came  back. 

"  Greener  says  that  she  never  was  better 
stalled,"  he  said. 

"  Manners,"  said  Aladdin,  "have  I  been 
raving  ? " 

"Not  been  riding  quite  straight,"  said 
Manners. 

153 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"How  soon  are  we  going  to  start?" 
said  Aladdin. 

"We  Ve    pfot  to   wait  till  the  snow  's 

o 

pretty  well  melted,"  said  Manners.  "About 
noon,  I  think." 

Then,  because  he  was  very  tired  and 
sick  and  weak,  and  perhaps  a  trifle  delir 
ious,  Aladdin  asked  Manners  if  he  would 
mind  holding  his  hand.  Manners  took 
the  hand  in  his,  and  a  thrill  ran  up  Alad 
din's  arm  and  all  over  him,  till  it  settled 
deliciously  about  his  heart,  and  he  slept. 

The  sun  rose,  and  dazzling  beams  of 
light  filled  the  room. 


154 


IBoofc  Hfl 


"  In  this  combat  no  man  can  imagine,  unless  he  had  seen  and 
heard  as  I  did,  what  yelling  and  hideous  roaring  Apollyon  made 
all  the  time  of  the  fight,  he  spake  like  a  Dragon ;  and  on  the 
other  side,  what  sighs  and  groans  burst  from  Christian's  heart. 
I  never  saw  him  all  the  while  give  so  much  as  one  pleasant  look, 
till  he  perceived  he  had  wounded  Apollyon  with  his  two-edged 
sword:  then  indeed  he  did  smile  and  look  upward." 


XIX 

IENATOR  ST.  JOHN,  attended 

by  Margaret,  her  maid,  and  a 
physician,  had  made  the  ardu 
ous  journey  from  Washington  to  Portland 
without  too  much  fatigue,  and  it  seemed 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  a  long  rest  in 
his  comfortable  house,  far  from  the  turmoil 
of  public  affairs,  would  do  much  to  reinstate 
his  body  after  the  savage  attack  of  gout 
with  complications  to  which  it  had  been 
subjected  during  six  long  weeks.  Arrived 
at  Portland,  he  was  driven  to  the  house  of 
his  old  friend  Mr.  Blankinship,  and  helped 
to  bed.  Next  morning  he  was  seized  with 
acute  pains  in  the  region  of  the  heart,  and 
though  his  valiant  mind  refused  for  a 
single  moment  to  tolerate  the  thought  that 
the  end  might  be  near,  was  persuaded 
to  send  for  his  daughter  and  his  sons. 

157 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Margaret  was  in  the  parlor  with  Aladdin. 
It  was  April,  and  the  whole  land  dripped. 
Through  the  open  window,  for  the  day 
was  warm,  the  moisture  of  the  soaked 
ground  and  trees  was  almost  audible. 
Margaret  had  much  to  say  to  Aladdin, 
and  he  to  her ;  they  had  not  met  for  sev 
eral  months. 

"  I  want  to  hear  about  Peter,"  said  Alad 
din —  "all  about  him.  He  met  you,  of 
course,  and  got  you  across  the  city  ?  " 

"Yes,  and  his  father  came,  too,"  said 
Margaret.  "Such  an  old  dear  —  you 
never  saw  him,  did  you  ?  He  's  taller  than 
Peter,  but  much  thinner,  and  a  great  aris 
tocrat.  He  's  the  only  man  I  ever  saw 
that  has  more  presence  than  papa.  He 
looks  like  a  fine  old  bird,  and  you  can  see 
his  skull  very  plainly  —  especially  when  he 
laughs,  if  you  know  what  I  mean.  And  he 's 
really  witty.  He  knows  all  about  you  and 
wants  you  to  go  and  stay  with  them  some 
time."  Aladdin  sighed  for  the  pure  delight 
of  hearing  Margaret's  voice  running  on 
and  on.  He  was  busy  looking  at  her,  and 

158 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

did  not  pay  the  slightest  attention  to  what 
she  said.  "And  the  girl  came  to  lunch, 
Aladdin,  and  she  is  so  pretty,  but  not  a 
bit  serene  like  Peter,  and  the  men  are  all 
wild  about  her,  but  she  does  n't  care 
that  —  " 

"Does  n't  she?"  said  Aladdin,  annoy- 
ingly. 

"  No,  she  does  n't ! "  said  Margaret, 
tartly.  "  She  says  she  's  going  to  be  a 
horse-breaker  or  a  nurse,  and  all  the  while 
she  kept  making  eyes  at  brother  John, 
and  he  lost  his  poise  entirely  and  smirked 
and  blushed,  and  I  should  n't  wonder  a 
bit  if  he  'd  made  up  his  mind  to  marry  her, 
and  if  he  has  he  will  —  " 

Aladdin  caught  at  the  gist  of  the  last 
sentence.  "  Is  that  all  that 's  necessary  ?  " 
he  said.  "  Has  a  man  only  got  to  make 
up  his  mind  to  marry  a  certain  girl  ?  " 

"  It  's  all  brother  John  would  have  to 
do,"  said  Margaret,  provokingly. 

"Admitting  that,"  said  Aladdin,  "how 
about  the  other  men  ?  " 

"Why,"  said  Margaret,  "  I  suppose  that 

159 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

if  a  man  really  and  truly  makes  up  his 
mind  to  get  the  girl  he  wants,  he  '11  get 
her." 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  grand  inno 
cence.  Aladdin's  heart  leaped  a  little. 

"But  suppose  two  men  made  up  their 
minds,"  said  Aladdin,  "to  get  the  same 
girl." 

"That  would  just  prove  the  rule,"  said 
Margaret,  refusing  to  see  any  personal 
application,  "because  one  of  them  would 
get  her,  and  the  other  would  be  the  ex 
ception." 

"Would  the  one  who  spoke  first  have 
an  advantage  ?  "  said  Aladdin.  "  Suppose 
he  'd  wanted  her  ever  so  long,  and  had 
tried  to  succeed  because  of  her,  and  "  —  he 
was  warming  to  the  subject,  which  meant 
much  to  him  —  "  had  never  known  that  there 
was  any  other  girl  in  the  world,  and  had 
pinned  all  his  faith  and  hope  on  her,  would 
he  have  any  advantage  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Margaret,  rather 
dreamily. 

"Because  if  he  would—  '  Aladdin 
1 60 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

reached  forward  and  took  one  of  her  hands 

in  his  two. 

She  let  it  lie  there,  and  for  a  moment 
they  looked  into  each  other's  eyes.  Mar 
garet  withdrew  her  hand. 

"I  know — I  know,"  she  said.  "But 
you  must  n't  say  it,  'Laddin  dear,  because 
— somehow  I  feel  that  there  are  heaps  of 
things  to  be  considered  before  either  of  us 
ought  to  think  of  that.  And  how  can  we 
be  quite  sure  ?  Anyway,  if  it 's  going  to 
happen  —  it  will  happen.  And  that 's  all 
I  'm  going  to  say,  'Laddin." 

"Tell  me,"  he  said  gently,  "what  the 
trouble  is,  dear.  Is  it  this:  do  you  think 
you  care  for  me,  and  are  n't  sure  ?  Is  that 
it?" 

She  nodded  gravely.  Aladdin  took  a 
long  breath. 

"  Well,"  he  said  finally,  "  I  believe  I  love 
you  well  enough,  Margaret,  to  hope  that 
you  get  the  man  who  will  make  you  happi 
est.  I  don't  know,"  he  went  on  rather 
gloomily,  "  that  I  'm  exactly  calculated  to 
make  anybody  happy,  but,"  he  concluded, 
161 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

with  a  quavering  smile,  "  I  'd  like  to  try." 
They  shook  hands  like  the  two  very  old 
friends  they  were. 

"We'll  always  be  that,  anyway,"  said 
Margaret. 

"  Always,"  said  Aladdin. 

"  Mademoiselle  !  "  Eugenie  opened  the 
parlor  door  and  looked  cautiously  in,  after 
the  manner  of  the  French  domestic. 

"  What  is  it?  "  said  Margaret  in  French. 

Aladdin  listened  with  intense  admira 
tion,  for  he  did  not  understand  a  word. 

"  Monsieur  does  not  carry  himself  so 
well,"  said  Eugenie,  "and  he  asks  if  made 
moiselle  will  have  the  goodness  to  mount 
a  moment  to  his  room." 

"  I  '11  go  at  once."  Margaret  rose. 
"Papa's  worse,"  she  said  to  Aladdin. 
"  Will  you  wait  ?  " 

"  I  am  so  sorry,"  said  Aladdin.  "  No,  I 
can't  wait ;  I  have  to  get  out  the  paper. 
I  "  —  he  smiled—-  "am  announcing  to  an 
eager  public  what  general,  in  my  expert 
opinion,  is  best  fitted  to  command  the 
armies  of  the  United  States." 
162 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Of  course  there  '11  be  fighting." 

"Of  course  —  and  in  a  day  or  two. 
Good-by." 

"  Good-by." 

"  I  '11  come  round  later  and  inquire  about 
your  father.  Give  him  my  love." 

Margaret  ran  up-stairs  to  her  father's 
room.  He  was  in  great  pain,  but  perfectly 
calm  and  collected.  As  Margaret  entered, 
the  doctor  went  out,  and  she  was  alone 
with  her  father. 

"Are  you  feeling  badly,  dear?  "  she  said. 

"  I  am  feeling  more  easy  than  a  moment 
ago,"  said  the  senator.  "  Bring  a  chair 
over  here,  Peggy ;  we  must  have  a  little 
talk." 

She  brought  a  little  upright  chair  and 
sat  down  facing  him,  her  right  hand  nes 
tling  over  one  of  his. 

"The  doctor,"  said  the  senator,  "con 
siders  that  my  condition  is  critical." 

"Papa- 

"  I  disagree  with  him.      I  shall,  I  believe, 
live  to  see  the  end  of  this  civil  riot,  but  I 
cannot  be  sure.     So  it  behooves  me  to  ask 
1 61 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

my  dear  daughter  a  question."  St.  John 
asked  it  with  eagerness.  "  Which  is  it  to 
be,  Peggy?" 

She  blushed  deeply. 

"You  are  interested  in  Aladdin 
O'Brien?" 

Her  head  drooped  a  little. 

"  Yes,  papa." 

The  senator  sighed. 

"  Thank  you,  dear,"  he  said.  "That  is 
all  I  wanted  to  know.  I  had  hoped  that  it 
would  be  otherwise.  Peggy,  "he  said,  "  I 
love  that  othe  young  man  like  a  son." 

"Peter?" 

"  I  have  always  hoped  that  you  would 
see  him  as  I  have  seen  him.  I  would  be 
happy  if  I  thought  that  I  could  leave  you 
in  such  strong  young  hands.  I  trust  him 
absolutely." 

"  Papa." 

"Well,  dear?" 

"  You  don't  like  Aladdin?  " 

"  He  is  not  steady,  Margaret."  The  sim 
ple  word  was  pregnant  with  meaning  as  it 
fell  from  the  senator. 

164 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"You  don't  mean  that  he — that  he's 
like—" 

"Yes,  dear;  I  should  not  wish  my 
youngest  son  to  marry." 

"  Poor  boy,"  said  Margaret,  softly. 

"  It 's  the  Irish  in  him,"  said  the  senator. 
"  He  must  do  all  things  to  extremes. 
There,  in  a  word,  lies  all  his  strength  and 
all  his  weakness." 

"  You  would  be  sorry  if  I  married  Alad 
din?" 

"  I  should  be  afraid  for  your  happiness. 
Do  you  love  him  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  sure,  papa." 

"  You  are  fond  of  Peter,  are  n't  you  ?  " 

She  leaned  forward  till  her  cheek  touched 
his. 

"  Next  to  you  and  'Laddin." 

The  senator  patted  her  shoulder,  and 
thus  they  remained  for  some  time. 

A  great  shouting  arose  in  the  neighbor 
hood. 

The  senator  sat  bolt  upright  in  bed. 
His  nostrils  began  to  quiver.  He  was  like 
an  old  war-horse  that  hears  bugles. 

165 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Sumter?  "  he  cried.  "  Sumter?  Do 
I  hear  Sumter  ?  " 

The  shouting  became  louder. 

"Sumter?"  he  cried.  "Have  they 
fired  upon  Sumter  ?  " 

Margaret  flew  to  the  window  and  threw 
it  open.  It  acted  upon  the  shouting  like 
the  big  swell  of  an  organ,  and  the  cries  of 
excitement  filled  the  room  to  bursting. 
South  Carolina  had  clenched  her  hand  and 
struck  the  flag  in  the  face. 

The  doctor  rushed  in.  He  paused  flab 
bergasted  at  sight  of  the  man  whom  he 
had  supposed  to  be  dying. 

"  Great  God,  man  !  "  cried  the  senator, 
"  can't  you  get  my  clothes  ?  " 

When  he  was  dressed  they  brought  him 
his  whalebone  stick. 

"  Damn  it,  I  can  walk  !  "  said  he,  and 
he  broke  the  faithful  old  thing  over  a  knee 
that  had  not  been  bent  for  a  month. 


166 


XX 

NEW  fervor  of  enlistment  took 
place,  and  among  the  first  to  en 
list  was  Aladdin,  and  when  his 
regiment  met  for  organization  he  was 
unanimously  elected  major.  He  had  many 
friends. 

At  first  he  thought  that  his  duty  did  not 
lie  where  his  heart  lay,  because  of  his 
brother  Jack,  now  fourteen,  whom  he  had 
to  support.  And  then,  the  old  promises 
coming  to  mind,  he  presented  himself  one 
morning  before  Senator  St.  John. 

"Senator,"  he  said,  "you  promised  to 
do  me  a  favor  if  I  should  ever  ask  it." 

The  senator  thought  of  Margaret  and 
trembled. 

"  I  have  come  to  ask  it." 
"Well,  sir?" 

167 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

"  I  want  to  enlist,  sir,  but  if  I  do  there 's 
nobody  to  look  after  Jack." 

Again  the  senator  thought  of  Margaret, 
and  his  heart  warmed. 

"  He  shall  live  in  my  house,  sir,"  said 
the  senator,  "  as  a  member  of  my  family, 
sir." 

"  God  bless  you,  sir  !  "  cried  Aladdin. 

In  a  state  of  dancing  glee  he  darted  off 
to  the  "  Spy  "  office  to  see  his  chief. 

Mr.  Blankinship  was  leaning  against 
the  post  of  the  street  door,  reading  his  own 
editorial  in  the  morning  issue. 

"  Hallo,  Mr.  Blankinship  ! "  cried  Alad 
din. 

"  Hallo,  Aladdin  !  "  cried  Mr.  Blankin 
ship,  grinning  at  his  favorite.  "  Late  as 
usual." 

"  And  for  the  last  time,  sir." 

"I  know  of  only  one  good  reason  for 
such  a  statement." 

"It's  it,  sir!  " 

Mr.  Blankinship  folded  his  paper  care 
fully.     His  eyes  were  red,  for  he  had  been 
up  late  the  night  before. 
1 68 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"I'd  go,  too,"  he  said  simply,  "if  it 
was  n't  for  the  mother." 

The  firm  of  John  St.  John  &  Brothers  sat 
in  its  office.  The  head  of  the  firm  was 
gorgeous  in  a  new  uniform  ;  he  had  hurried 
up  from  New  York  (where  he  had  been 
paying  vigorous  court  to  Ellen  Manners, 
whom  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  marry) 
in  order,  as  oldest,  biggest,  and  strongest, 
to  enlist  for  the  family  in  one  of  the  home 
regiments.  There  lingered  on  his  lips  the 
thrill  of  a  kiss  half  stolen,  half  yielded,  while 
in  his  pockets  were  a  number  of  telegrams 
since  received,  and  the  usually  grave  and 
stern  young  man  was  jocular  and  banter 
ing.  The  two  younger  members  of  the 
firm  were  correspondingly  savage. 

"  For  God's  sake,  clear  out  of  here," 
said  Hamilton.  "  Your  shingle  's  down. 
Bui  and  I  are  running  this  office  now." 

"  Well,  it 's  the  chance  of  your  lives, 
boys,"  said  the  frisky  colonel.  "  I  '11  have 
forgotten  the  law  by  the  time  I  come 
back." 

169 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Hope  you  may  choke,  John,"  said 
Hannibal,  sweetly. 

"  Don't  allow  smoking  in  here,  do  you, 
boys?"  He  got  no  answer.  It  was  a 
hard-and-fast  rule  which  he  himself  had 
instituted. 

"Well,  here  goes."  He  lighted  a  huge 
cigar  and  puffed  it  insolently  about  the 
office.  He  surveyed  himself  in  the  cracked 
mirror. 

"  Cursed  if  a  uniform  is  n't  becoming  to 
a  man  !  "  he  said. 

"Chicken  !  "  said  Hamilton. 

"  Puppy  !  "  said  Hannibal. 

"Titmouse  !  "  said  Hamilton. 

"  Ant !  "  said  Hannibal. 

John's  grin  widened. 

"Boys,"  he  said,  " you  Ve got  one  swell 
looker  in  the  family,  anyway,  and  you 
ought  to  be  glad  of  that." 

The  boys  exchanged  glances. 

Hannibal  had  upon  his  desk  a  pen-wiper 

which  consisted  of  a  small  sponge  heavy 

with  the   ink  of  wiped  pens.     Hamilton 

had  beneath  his  desk  an  odd  rubber  boot 

170 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

which  served  him  as  a  scrap-basket. 
These  ornamental  missiles  took  John  St. 
John  in  the  back  of  the  head  at  about  the 
same  moment,  the  weight  and  impetus  of 
the  boot  knocking  the  cigar  clean  out  of 
his  mouth,  so  that  it  disashed  itself  against 
the  mirror. 

The  gallant  colonel  turned,  still  grinning. 

"  Which  threw  the  boot?  "  said  he. 

"  I  did,"  said  Hamilton. 

"  Then  you  get  the  first  licking." 

Hamilton  met  his  brother's  hostile  if 
grinning  advance  with  the  hardest  blow 
that  he  could  strike  him  over  the  left  eye. 
Then  they  clenched,  and  Hannibal  joined 
the  fray.  The  three  brothers,  roaring 
with  laughter,  proceeded  to  inflict  as  much 
damage  to  each  other  and  the  office  as 

o 

they  jointly  could.  Over  and  under  they 
squirmed  and  contorted,  hitting,  tripping, 
falling  and  rising.  Desks  went  over,  law- 
books  strewed  the  floor,  ink  ran,  and  finally 
the  bust  of  George  Washington,  which  had 
stood  over  the  inner  door  since  the  founda 
tion  of  the  firm,  came  down  with  a  crash. 
171 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

By  this  time  the  three  brothers  were  help 
less  with  laughter.  The  combat  ceased, 
and  they  sat  upon  the  floor  to  survey  the 
damage. 

"  You  can't  handle  the  old  man  yet, 
boys,"  said  the  colonel.  His  left  eye  was 
closed,  and  his  new  uniform  looked  like  the 
ribbons  hung  on  a  May-pole. 

Hamilton  was  bleeding  at  the  nose. 
Hannibal's  lip  was  split.  The  three 
looked  at  each  other  and  shook  with 
laughter. 

"  I  'm  inclined  to  think  we  've  had  a 
healthy  bringing-up,"  said  Hamilton  be 
tween  gasps. 

"  Better  move,  colonel,"  said  Hannibal ; 
"you  're  sitting  in  a  pool  of  ink." 

"So  I  am,"  said  the  colonel,  as  the  cold 
struck  through  his  new  trousers. 

The  laughter  broke  out  afresh. 

Beau  Larch,  in  the  uniform  of  a  private, 
appeared  at  the  door. 

"Hallo,  Beau!" 

"  Come  in." 

"Take  a  hand?" 

172 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Thank  you,  no,"  said  Beau.  "I  just 
dropped  in  to  tell  you  fellows  that  we  Ve 
just  had  a  hell  of  a  licking  at  Bull  Run." 

"  Us  !  "  said  the  colonel,  rising. 

"  Us!  "  said  Hamilton.     "  Licked?  " 

"  Us  /  "  said  Hannibal. 

"And  I've  got  other  news,  too,"  said 
Beau,  bashfully.  "  If  I  stop  drinking  till 
my  year  's  up,  and  don't  ever  drink  any 
more,  Claire  says  she  '11  marry  me." 

Hannibal  was  the  first  to  shake  his 
hand. 

"  Boys,"  said  Beau,  "  I  hope  if  any  of 
you  ever  sees  me  touch  a  drop  you  '11 
strike  me  dead." 

He  went  out. 

"  I  'm  going  to  find  out  about  this,"  said 
John  ;  "what  did  he  say  the  name  of  the 
licking  was  ?  " 

"  Bull  Run." 

"  Bull  Run.  And  I  '11  come  back  and 
tell  you." 

He  was  starting  to  descend  the  steep 
stairs  to  the  street,  when  he  caught  the 
sound  of  snickers  and  creeping  footsteps 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

behind  him.  He  turned  like  a  panther,  but 
was  not  in  time.  The  heavily  driven  toes 
of  the  right  boots  of  the  younger  St.  Johns 
lifted  him  clear  of  the  stairs,  and  clean  to 
the  bottom  of  them.  There  he  sat,  his 
uniform  a  thing  of  the  past,  his  left  eye 
blackening  and  closed,  and  roars  of  laugh 
ter  shaking  him. 

But  Hamilton  and  Hannibal  put  the 
office  more  or  less  to  rights,  and  sat  down 
gloomily  at  their  respective  desks.  Up  till 
now  they  had  faced  being  left  behind,  but 
this  licking  was  too  much.  Each  brooded 
over  it,  while  pretending  to  be  up  to  the 
ears  in  work.  Hamilton  wrote  a  letter, 
sealed  it,  addressed  it,  and  presently  rose. 

"  Bui,"  he  said,  and  to  Hannibal  the 
whole  manoeuver  smacked  suspicious, 
"  I  'm  going  to  run  up  and  see  the  old 
man  for  a  few  minutes." 

"All  right,"  said  Hannibal. 

Hamilton  reached  the  door  and  turned. 

"  By  the  way,"  he  said,  "  I  left  a  letter 
on  my  desk;  wish  you  'd  put  a  stamp  on  it 
and  mail  it." 

174 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

He  went  out. 

Hannibal  felt  very  lonely  and  fidgety. 

"  I  think  I  '11  just  mail  that  letter  and  get 
it  off  my  mind,"  he  said. 

He  put  on  his  hat,  licked  a  stamp,  and 
crossed  to  his  brother's  desk.  The  letter 
was  there,  right  enough,  but  it  did  not  re 
quire  a  stamp,  for  on  it  was  written  but 
one  word,  and  that  word  was  Hannibal. 

Hannibal  tore  open  the  envelop  and 
read: 

DEAR  OLD  BUL  :  I  can't  stand  it  any  longer,  but 
you  '11  try  and  not  be  mad  with  me  for  running  off 
and  leaving  you  to  keep  up  the  old  place  alone,  and 
damn  it,  Bui,  two  of  us  ought  to  go  anyway.  .  .  . 

The  letter  ran  on  for  a  little  in  the  same 
strain.  Hannibal  put  the  letter  in  his 
pocket,  and  sat  down  at  his  brother's  desk. 

"  It  will  kill  the  old  man  if  we  all  go," 
he  said.  "And  of  all  three  I  'm  the  one 
with  the  best  rights  to  go  and  get  shot." 

He  took  from  somewhere  in  his  clothes 
a  little  gold  locket,  flat  and  plain.  Each 
of  the  St.  John  boys  had  carried  one  since 

175 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

their  mother's  death.  Facing  her  picture 
each  had  had  engraved  the  motto  which 
he  had  chosen  for  himself  to  be  his  watch 
word  in  life.  In  John's  locket  was  en 
graved,  "  In  fortis  vinces  " ;  in  Hamilton's, 
"  Deo  volente";  and  in  Hannibal's,  "Carpe 
diem."  But  in  Hannibal's  locket  there 
was  another  picture  besides  that  of  his 
mother.  He  opened  the  locket  with  his 
thumb-nails  and  laid  it  on  the  desk  before 
him.  Presently  his  eyes  dimmed,  and  he 
looked  beyond  the  locket. 

Hamilton  St.  John's  ink-well  was  a 
globe  of  glass,  with  a  hole  like  a  thimble 
in  the  top  to  contain  ink.  Hannibal  found 
himself  looking  at  this,  and  noting  the 
perfect  miniature  reproduction  of  the  big 
calendar  on  the  wall,  as  it  was  refracted 
by  the  glass.  With  his  thoughts  far  away, 
his  eyes  continued  to  look  at  the  neat  lit 
tle  curly  calendar  in  the  ink-well.  Pres 
ently  it  seemed  to  him  that  it  was  not  a 
calendar  at  all;  but  just  a  patch  of  bright 
green  color  —  a  patch  of  bright  green  that 
became  grass,  an  acre  of  it,  a  ten -acre 
176 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

field,  a  great  field  gay  with  trampled  flow 
ers,  rolling  hills,  woods,  meadows,  fences, 
streams.  Then  he  saw,  lying  thickly  over 
a  fair  region,  broken  guns,  exploded  can 
nons,  torn  flags,  horses  and  men  contorted 
and  sprung  in  death  ;  everywhere  death 
and  demolition.  He  wandered  over  the 
field  and  came  presently  upon  himself, 
scorched,  mangled,  and  dead  under  the 
wheel  of  a  cannon. 

After  a  little  it  seemed  to  him  that  the 
field  of  battle  shrank  until  it  became  again 
the  calendar.  But  there  was  something 
odd  about  that  calendar ;  the  dates  were 
queer.  It  read  July,  right  enough;  but 
this  was  the  year  1861,  whereas  the  cal 
endar  bore  the  date  1863.  And  why  was 
there  a  cross  to  mark  the  third  day  of 
July?  Hannibal  came  to  with  a  shock; 
but  he  could  have  sworn  that  he  had  not 
been  asleep. 

"God  is  very  —  very  good  !"  he  said 
solemnly. 

Then  he  opened  his  pen-knife,  and 
scratched  a  deep  line  of  erasure  through 
177 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

the  "  Carpe  diem  "  in  his  locket,  and  un 
derneath,  cutting  with  great  pains,  he  in 
serted  a  date,  "July  3,  1863,"  and  the 
words  "  Nunc  dimittis."  Below  that  he 
cut  "  Te  Deum  laudamus." 

He  looked  once  more  at  the  picture  of 
his  mother  and  at  the  picture  that  was 
not  of  his  mother,  shut  the  little  gold  case, 
and  put  it  back  in  his  pocket. 

Then  he  inked  on  the  white  inside  of  a 
paper-box  cover,  in  large  letters,  these 
words  : 

This  office  will  not  be  opened  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
That  office  was  never  opened  again. 


178 


XXI 

1HE  lives  of  sixty  million  people 
had  become  suddenly  full  of  drill, 
organization,  uniforms,  military 
music,  flags,  hatred,  love,  and  self-sacri 
fice,  and  the  nations  of  the  Old  World  stood 
about,  note-book  in  hand,  like  so  many 
medical  students  at  a  clinic  :  could  a  heart, 
cut  in  two,  continue  to  supply  a  body  with 
blood  after  the  soul  had  been  withdrawn  ? 
And  the  nations  of  the  Old  World  hoped 
that  there  would  be  enough  fresh  meat 
left  on  the  carcass  for  them  to  feed  on, 
when  the  experiment  should  be  at  an  end. 
Mother  England  was  particularly  hungry, 
and  dearly  hoped  to  have  the  sucking  of 
the  eggs  which  she  herself  had  laid. 

It  was  a  great  time  for  young  men,  and 
Margaret  shed  secret  tears  on  behalf  of 
179 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

five  of  them.  It  had  fallen  upon  her  to 
tell  the  old  man  that  his  three  sons  had 
enlisted,  and  that  task  had  tortured  her 
for  an  hour  before  she  had  dared  go  and 
accomplish  it. 

"Papa,"  she  said,  "  Ham  has  enlisted, 
and  so  has  Bui." 

The  senator  had  not  moved  a  muscle. 

"It  was  only  a  question  of  time,"  he 
said.  "  I  wish  that  I  had  begotten  a 
dozen  others." 

He  had  borrowed  her  well-marked  Bible 
from  old  Mrs.  Blankinship  and  read  Isaiah 
at  a  gulp.  Then  he  had  sought  out  his 
boys  and  bantered  them  on  their  new 
clothes. 

Margaret  sat  very  still  for  a  long  time 
after  the  interview  with  her  father.  She 
knew  that  Bui,  whom  she  loved  best  of  her 
brothers,  was  going  to  be  killed.  She  had 
never  before  seen  his  face  so  serenely 
happy  as  when  he  came  to  tell  her  that  he 
had  sworn  in,  nor  had  she  ever  before 
seen  that  unexplainable  phenomenon, 
known  variously  as  fate,  doom,  numbered, 
1 80 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Nemesis,  written  upon  a  face.  And  there 
were  others  who  might  be  taken. 

Aladdin  came  in  for  a  moment  to  give 
her  the  news.  He  was  nervous  with  en 
thusiasm,  and  had  been  working  like  a 
horse.  His  regiment  was  to  leave  Friday 
for  the  front ;  he  could  stay  but  a  minute  ; 
he  had  only  dashed  in  on  his  way  to  drill. 
Would  she  care  to  come  ?  Quite  right  ; 
there  was  nothing  much  to  look  at.  He 
talked  as  cheerfully  and  as  rapidly  as  a 
mountain  brook  runs.  And  then  he  gave 
his  best  piece  of  news,  and  looked  almost 
handsome  as  he  gave  it. 

"  Peter  's  here,"  he  said.  "  He  's  out 
side  talking  to  the  senator.  He  looks 
simply  stunning,  and  he  's  a  whole  lot  of 
things  on  a  staff —  assistant  adjutant-gen 
eral  with  the  rank  of  a  colonel ;  and  he  's 
floated  up  here  on  a  dash  against  time  to 
say  good-by  to  us." 

Aladdin's  face  puckered. 

"  You  and  Peter  and  I,  Margaret,"  he 
said,  "Lord,  what  a  muddle  !  " 

"  I  'm  terribly  blue,  old  man,"  said  Mar- 
181 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

garet,  "  and  it  hurts  to  have  you  say  things 
like  that." 

Instantly  Aladdin  was  all  concern. 

"You  know  I  would  n't  hurt  you  pur 
posely,"  he  said,  "but  I  'm  terribly  blue, 
too,  dear,  and  one  tries  to  keep  up  and 
says  asinine  things,  and  "  —  he  smiled,  and 
his  smile  was  very  winning —  "  is  at  once 
forgiven  by  an  old  dear." 

She  held  out  her  hand  and  gave  his  a 
friendly  squeeze. 

"  You  old  darling ! "  he  said,  and  ran 
out. 

She  followed  him  into  the  hall,  and  met 
Manners,  who  had  just  parted  from  the 
senator  at  the  front  door.  His  uniform 
was  wonderfully  becoming. 

"A  it  Peter?" 

They  shook  hands. 

"  Never,"  she  said,  "  have  I  seen  any 
thing  so  beautiful ! " 

Peter  blushed  (looking  even  more  beau 
tiful),  for  he  hated  to  be  talked  about. 

"  Where  was  'Laddin  going?  "  he  said. 
"  He  went  by  me  like  a  shot  out  of  a  gun, 
182 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  had  only  time  to  pull  my  hat  over  my 
eyes  and  squeal  Peeeter" 

"  He  's  very  important  now,"  said  Mar 
garet,  "and  wonders  how  anybody  can 
want  to  write  things  and  be  a  poet  or  a 
musician  when  there  are  real  things  to  do 
in  the  world." 

Peter  looked  at  his  watch. 

"Is  n't  that  the  least  bit  rude?"  said 
Margaret. 

"No,"  said  Peter;  "my  train  back 
leaves  in  one  hour,  and  I  could  better 
afford  to  lose  my  chances  of  heaven.  I 
had  no  business  to  come,  as  it  was.  But 
I  had  to  come." 

Margaret  sighed.  She  had  hoped  that 
it  would  not  happen  so  soon.  He  fol 
lowed  her  into  the  parlor  and  closed  the 
door  behind  him. 

"  First,  Margaret,"  he  said,  "  I  'm  going 
to  tell  you  something  that  may  surprise 
you  a  little.  It  did  me  ;  it  was  so  sudden. 
My  sister  Ellen  is  going  to  be  married." 

"  Ellen  !  "  exclaimed  Margaret.  "  Why, 
she  always  said  —  " 

183 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  It  's  only  been  arranged  in  the  last 
few  days,"  said  Peter,  "by  many  tele 
grams.  I  was  told  to  tell  you." 

"  Is  he  nice  ?  " 

"  Yes.     He  's  a  good  chap." 

"Rich?" 

"Well  — rather  rising  than  rich." 

"Who  is  it?" 

"  Your  brother  John." 

"My  dear  Peter  —  " 

"  No  —  I  never  did,  either  !  " 

"  Is  n't  that  splendid  !  " 

Peter  pulled  a  grave  face. 

"Yes  —  and  no,"  he  said. 

"  I  hope  you  're  not  going  to  be  inso 
lent,"  said  Margaret. 

"  It  depends  on  what  you  call  insolent. 
My  father,  you  see,  objects  very  much  to 
having  Ellen  go  out  of  the  family,  but  he 
says  that  he  can  learn  to  bear  that  if  the 
only  other  girl  in  the  world  will  come  into 
the  family." 

Manners'  voice  had  become  husky 
toward  the  last  of  the  sentence,  and  per 
haps  not  husky  so  much  as  hungry.  Mar- 
184 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

garet  knew  better  than  to  say  anything  of 
the  kind,  but  she  could  n't  help  looking  as 
innocent  as  a  child  and  saying : 

-Won't  she?" 

"How  do  I  know?"  said  Peter.  "I 
have  come  to  ask  her." 

He  looked  so  very  strong  and  manly  and 
frank  that  Margaret,  whose  world  had  been 
terribly  blue  recently,  was  half  tempted  to 
throw  herself  into  his  arms  and  cry. 

"  O  Peter  !  "  she  said  pitifully. 

He  came  and  sat  beside  her  on  the  sofa, 
and  drew  her  close  to  him. 

"  My  darling,"  he  said  brokenly. 

A  great  sense  of  trust  and  security  stole 
over  Margaret,  but  she  knew  that  it  was 
not  love.  Yet  for  a  moment  she  hesitated, 
for  she  knew  that  if  she  took  this  man,  his 
arm  would  always  be  about  her,  and  he 
would  always  —  always  —  always  be  good 
to  her.  As  she  sat  there,  not  trusting 
herself  to  speak,  she  had  her  first  doubt 
of  Aladdin,  and  she  wondered  if  he  loved 
her  as  much  —  as  much  as  he  loved  Alad 
din.  Then  she  felt  like  a  traitor. 

185 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

For  a  little  neither  could  find  any  words 
to  say.  So  still  they  sat  that  Margaret 
could  hear  the  muffled  ticking  of  Peter's 
watch.  At  length  Peter  spoke. 

"  What  shall  I  tell  my  father?  "  he  said. 

"  Tell  him  —  "  said  Margaret,  and  her 
voice  broke. 

"  Are  n't  you  sure,  darling  —  is  that  it?  " 

She  nodded  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

He  took  his  arm  from  round  her  waist, 
and  she  felt  very  lonely. 

"  But  I  'm  always  going  to  love  you," 
he  said. 

She  felt  still  more  alone. 

"  Peter,"  she  said,  "  I  can't  explain 
things  very  well,  but  I  —  I  —  don't  want 
you  to  go  away  feeling  as  if — " 

Manners'  eyes  lifted  up. 

"  As  if  it  was  all  over  ? "  he  asked 
eagerly. 

"Almost  that,  Peter,"  she  said.  "I  — 
I  can't  say  yes  now  —  but  God  knows, 
Peter,  perhaps  sometime  —  I  —  I  can." 

She  was  thinking  of  the  flighty  and 
moody  Aladdin,  who  had  loved  her  so 
1 86 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

long,  and  whom  (she  suddenly  realized  in 
spite  of  the  words  just  spoken)  she  loved 
back  with  all  her  heart  and  soul. 

Honor  rose  hot  in  her  to  give  Peter  a 
final  answer  now  and  forever  —  no.  But 
she  looked  into  his  eyes  and  could  not. 

He  looked  at  his  watch. 

"Margaret  dear,"  he  said,  "I  Ve  got 
to  go.  Thanks  for  everything,  and  for 
the  hope  and  all,  and  —  and  I  may  never 
see  you  again,  but  if  I  do,  will  you  give 
me  my  answer  then  ?  " 

"I  will,"  said  Margaret,  "when  I  see 
you  again." 

They  rose. 

"  May  I  kiss  you,  Margaret?  "  he  said. 

"Certainly,  Peter." 

He  kissed  her  on  the  cheek,  and  went 
away  with  her  tears  on  his  lips. 

A  newly  organized  fife-and-drum  corps 
marched  by  struggling  with  "The  Girl  I 
Left  Behind  Me." 

In  those  days  the  most  strangled  ren 
dering  of  that  tune  would  bring  lumps  into 
the  throats  of  those  that  heard. 


XXII 

'ANNIBAL  and  Hamilton  were 
privates  in  the  nth  regiment, 
Aladdin  was  major,  and  John  was 
colonel.  If  any  of  them  had  the  slightest 
military  knowledge,  it  was  Aladdin.  Not 
in  vain  had  he  mastered  the  encyclopedia 
from  Safety-lamps  to  Stranglers.  He 
could  explain  with  strange  words  and  in 
long,  balanced  sentences  everything  about 
the  British  army  that  began  with  an  S,  ex 
cept  only  those  things  whose  second  letter 
stood  farther  down  in  the  alphabet  than  T. 
But  the  elements  of  knowledge  kept  drop 
ping  in,  at  first  on  perfunctory  calls,  visi 
tors  that  disappeared  when  you  turned  to 
speak  with  them,  but  that  later  came  to 
stay.  The  four  young  men  were  like  chil 
dren  with  a  "roll-the-seven-number-eight- 
188 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

shot-into-the-middle  "  puzzle.  They  could 
make  a  great  rattling  with  the  shot,  and 
control  their  tempers ;  that  was  about  all. 
Later  they  were  to  form  units  in  the  most 
efficient  and  intelligent  large  body  of  men 
that  the  world  ever  saw,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  the  armies  it  was  to  be  pitted 
against ;  but  those,  it  must  be  owned,  were 
usually  smaller,  though,  in  the  ability  of 
their  commanders  to  form  concentration, 
often  of  three  times  the  size.  They  learned 
that  it  is  cheaper  to  let  a  company  sleep  in 
tents  upon  hard  ground  of  a  rainy  night 
than  to  lodge  them  in  a  neighboring  hotel 
at  one's  own  expense,  and  that  going  the 
rounds  in  pitch-darkness  grows  less  thrill 
ing  in  exact  ratio  to  the  number  of  times 
you  do  it,  and  finally,  even  in  sight  of  the 
enemy's  lines,  becomes  as  boring  as  waltz 
ing  with  a  girl  you  don't  like.  They  began 
to  learn  that  cleanliness  is  next  to  godli 
ness  only  in  times  of  peace,  and  that 
food  is  the  one  god,  and  the  stomach  his 
only  prophet.  They  learned  that  the  most 
difficult  of  all  duties  is  to  keep  the  face 
189 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

straight  when  the  horse  of  a  brother  officer 
who  mounts  for  the  first  time  is  surprised 
to  vehemence  by  its  first  experience  with  a 
brass  band. 

Aladdin  was  absolutely  equal  to  the  oc 
casion,  and  developed  an  astonishing  talent 
for  play-acting,  and,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
strutted  a  little,  both  in  the  bosom  of  his 
soul  and  on  the  parade-ground.  It  was 
only  when  he  looked  at  two  of  the  "tall 
men  on  the  right,"  Hamilton  and  Hannibal 
St.  John,  who  had  chosen  humble  parts 
that  they  might  serve  under  their  brother, 
that  he  felt  properly  small  and  resented 
himself.  Sometimes,  too,  he  searched  his 
past  life  and  could  find  in  it  only  one  brave 
deed,  his  swim  down  the  river,  and  he  won 
dered  with  an  awful  wonder  what  he  would 
do  when  the  firing  began.  He  need  not 
have  troubled:  he  was  of  too  curious  and 
inquiring  a  disposition  to  be  afraid  of 
most  things.  And  he  was  yet  to  see  proved 
on  many  Southern  fields  that  a  coward  is,  if 
anything,  a  rarer  bird  than  a  white  quail. 
Only  once  in  action  did  Aladdin  see  a  man 
190 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

really  show  the  white  feather.  The  man 
had  gone  into  the  army  from  a  grocery- 
store,  and  was  a  very  thin,  small  specimen 
with  a  very  big,  bulbous  head ;  and,  like 
many  others  of  his  class,  proved  to  be  a 
perfect  fire-eater  in  battle,  and  a  regular 
buzzard  to  escape  fever  and  find  food. 
But  during  the  famous  seven  days  before 
Richmond  a  retreat  was  ordered  of  a  part 
of  the  line  which  the  Buzzard  helped 
compose,  and  he  was  confronted  by  the 
necessity,  for  his  friends  were  hastening 
him  from  behind,  of  crossing  a  gully  by 
means  of  a  somewhat  slender  fallen  tree. 
It  was  then  that  Aladdin  saw  him  show 
fear.  Bullets  tore  up  the  bark  of  the  tree, 
and  pine  needles,  clipped  from  the  trees 
overhead,  fell  in  showers.  But  he  did  not 
mind  that.  It  was  the  slenderness  and  in 
stability  of  the  fallen  tree  that  froze  the 
marrow  in  his  bones:  would  it  bear  his  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four  pounds,  or  would 
it  precipitate  him,  an  awful  drop  of  ten 
feet,  into  the  softest  of  muds  at  the  bottom 
of  the  gully,  where  a  sickeningly  striped 
191 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

but  in  reality  harmless  water-snake  lay 
coiled? 

Finally,  pale  and  shaking,  he  ventured 
on  the  log,  got  half-way  across,  turned 
giddy,  and  fell  with  such  -a  howl  of  terror 
that  it  was  only  equaled  in  vehemence  by 
the  efforts  of  the  snake  to  get  out  of  the 
way.  After  which  the  Buzzard  picked  him 
self  up,  scrambled  out,  and  continued  his 
retreat,  scraping  his  muddied  boots  among 
the  fallen  leaves  as  he  went.  "  Some  talk 
of  Alexander  and  some  of  Hercules,"  but 
it  may  be  that  an  exceedingly  giddy  ele 
vation  coupled  with  a  serpent  would  have 
made  shivering  children  of  both  those 
heroes.  To  each  his  own  fear.  Mar 
garet's  and  Aladdin's  was  the  same: 
they  both  feared  Aladdin. 

That  afternoon  the  regiment  was  to  leave 
for  the  front,  and  Aladdin  went  to  bid  Mar 
garet  good-by.  She  and  her  father  were 
still  staying  with  the  Blankinships. 

They  had  a  very  satisfactory  talk,  begin 
ning  with  the  beginning  of  things,  and 
going  over  their  long  friendship,  laughing, 
192 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

remembering,  and  regretting.  Jack  was  to 
live  with  the  St.  Johns,  and  they  talked 
much  of  him,  and  of  old  Mrs.  Brackett,  and 
of  affairs  at  home.  Jack  about  this  time 
was  in  the  seventh  hell  of  despair,  for  his 
extreme  youth  had  prevented  him  from 
bringing  to  its  triumphant  conclusion  a 
pleasant  little  surprise,  consisting  of  a  blue 
uniform,  which  he  had  planned  for  himself 
and  others.  No  love  of  country  stirred 
the  bosom  of  the  guileless  Jack ;  only 
hatred  of  certain  books  out  of  which  he 
was  obliged  to  learn  many  useless  things, 
such  as  reading,  writing,  spelling,  and  arith 
metic.  Besides,  word  had  come  to  him 
that  persimmons  were  to  be  had  for  the 
picking  and  chickens  for  the  broiling  in 
that  country  toward  which  the  troops 
were  heading.  And  much  also  had  he 
heard  concerning  the  beauty  of  Southern 
maidens,  and  of  the  striped  watermelons  in 
the  watermelon-patch.  And  so  he  was  to 
be  left  behind,  and  God  was  not  good. 

Toward  the    end   their   talk  got  very 
serious. 

193 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"I'm  going  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf," 
said  Aladdin,  "and  be  better  things,  Mar 
garet,  and  you  must  save  up  a  lot  of  pride 
to  have  in  me  if  I  do,  and  perhaps  it  will 
all  come  right  in  the  end." 

"  You  know  how  fond  I  am  of  you,"  said 
Margaret,  "  and  because  I  am,  and  because 
you  're  all  the  big  things  that  are  hard  to 
be,  I  want  you  to  be  all  the  little  things 
that  ought  to  be  so  easy  to  be.  That 
does  n't  seem  very  plain,  but  I  mean  — " 

"  I  know  exactly  what  you  mean,"  said 
Aladdin.  "  Don't  you  suppose  I  know 
myself  pretty  well  by  this  time,  and  how 
far  I  Ve  got  to  climb  before  I  have  a  ghost 
of  a  right  to  tell  you  what  I  tell  you  every 
time  I  look  at  you  ?  " 

Aladdin  rose. 

"Margaret,"  he  said,  "this  time  I'm 
going  like  an  old  friend.  If  I  make  good 
and  live  steady,  as  I  mean  to  do,  I  shall 
come  back  like  a  lover.  Meanwhile  you 
shall  think  all  things  over,  and  if  you  think 
that  you  can  care  for  me,  you  shall  tell  me 
so  when  I  come  back.  And  if  you  conclude 
194 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

that  you  can't,  you  shall  tell  me.  I  'm  not 
going  to  ask  you  to  marry  me  now,  because 
in  no  way  am  I  in  a  position  to.  But  if  I 
come  back  and  say  to  you,  '  Margaret,  I 
have  turned  into  a  man  at  last/  you  will 
know  that  I  am  telling  the  truth  and  am  in 
a  position  to  ask  anything  I  please.  For  I 
shall  come  back  without  a  cent,  but  with  a 
character,  and  that's  everything.  I  shall 
not  drink  any  more,  and  every  night  I 
shall  pray  to  God  to  help  me  believe  in 
Him.  But,  Margaret,  I  may  not  come  back 
at  all.  If  I  don't  it  will  be  for  one  of  two 
reasons.  Either  I  shall  fail  in  becoming 
worthy  to  kiss  the  dust  under  your  blessed 
feet,  or  I  shall  be  killed.  In  the  first  case, 
I  beg  that  you  will  pray  for  me  ;  but  in  the 
second  I  pray  that  you  will  forget  all  that 
was  bad  in  me  and  only  remember  what  was 
good.  And  so,  darling  — "  his  voice  broke, 
"because  I  am  a  little  afraid  of  death  and 
terribly  afraid  of  myself — " 

She  came  obediently  into  his  arms,  and 
knew  what  it  was  to  be  kissed  by  the  man 
she  loved. 

195 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

"  Aladdin,"  she  said,  "  promise  that  no 
thing  except  — " 

"  Death  ?  "  said  Aladdin. 

" — that  nothing,  nothing  except  — 
death  —  shall  keep  you  from  coming 
back." 

"  If  I  live,"  said  Aladdin,  "  I  will  come 
back." 

Everybody  of  education  knows  that  Lucy 
Locket  lost  her  pocket  and  that  Betty 
Pringle  found  it  without  a  penny  "in  it" 
(to  rhyme  with  "  found  it "),  but  everybody 
does  not  know  that  the  aforementioned 
Lucy  Locket  had  a  tune  composed  for  her 
benefit  that  has  thrilled  the  hearts  of  more 
sons  of  the  young  republic  when  stepping 
to  battle  than  any  other  tune,  past,  pres 
ent,  or  to  come.  There  is  a  martial  vigor 
and  a  tear  in  "  The  Girl  I  Left  Behind 
Me";  some  feet  cannot  help  falling  into 
rhythm  when  they  hear  the  "  British  Gren 
adiers  " ;  North  and  South  alike  are  pos 
sessed  with  a  do-or-die  madness  when  the 
wild  notes  of  "  Dixie  "  rush  from  the  brass  ; 
196 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  "  John  Brown's  Body  "  will  cause  the 
dumb  to  sing.  But  it  is  the  farcical  little 
quickstep  known  by  the  ridiculous  name  of 
"  Yankee  Doodle"  which  the  nations 
would  do  well  to  consider  when  straining 
the  patience  of  the  peace-loving  and 
United  States. 

And  so  they  marched  down  the  street  to 
the  station,  and  the  tall  men  walked  on  the 
right  and  the  little  men  on  the  left,  and  the 
small  boys  trotted  alongside,  and  the 
brand-new  flags  flung  out,  and  bouquets 
were  thrown,  and  there  were  cheers  from 
the  heart  up  all  along  the  line.  But  ever 
the  saucy  fifes  sang,  and  the  drums  gaily 

beat: 

Yankee  Doodle  came  to  town 

Riding  on  a  pony, 
Stuck  a  feather  in  his  Hat, 

And  called  it  macaroni. 

At  the  station  the  emotions  attendant 
on  departure  found  but  one  voice.  The 
mother  said  to  the  son  what  the  sweetheart 
said  to  the  lover,  and  the  sister  to  the 
brother.  Nor  was  this  in  any  manner  dif- 
197 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

ferent  from  what  the  brother,  lover,  and 
son  said  to  the  sister,  sweetheart,  and 
mother.  It  was  the  last  sentence  which 
bleeding  hearts  supply  to  lips  at  moments 
of  farewell : 

"  Write  to  me." 

And  the  supercilious  little  quickstep 
went  on  : 

Yankee  Doodle,  Doodle  do, 

Yankee  Doodle  dandy, 
Stuck  a  feather  in  his  Hat, 

And  called  it  macaroni. 


198 


XXIII 

$?  TONGUE  of  land  with  Rich 
mond  (built,  like  another  capital 
beginning  with  R,  on  many  hills) 
for  its  major  root,  and  a  fortification  vul 
garly  supposed  to  be  of  the  gentler  sex  for 
its  tip,  is  formed  by  the  yellow  flow  of  the 
James  and  York  rivers.  To  land  an  army 
upon  the  tip  of  this  tongue,  march  the 
length  of  it  and  extract  the  root,  after  reduc 
ing  it  to  a  reminiscence,  was  the  wise  plan 
of  the  powers  early  in  the  year  1862.  To 
march  an  army  of  preponderous  strength 
through  level  and  fertile  country,  flanked  by 
friendly  war-ships  and  backed  by  unassail 
able  credit ;  to  meet  and  overcome  a  much 
smaller  and  far  less  rich  army,  intrenched 
behind  earthworks  of  doubtful  formidable- 
ness,  and  finally  to  besiege  and  capture  an 
199 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

isolated  city  of  more  historic  than  strategic 
advantages,  seemed  on  the  face  of  it  as 
easy  as  rolling  a  barrel  downhill  or  eating 
when  hungry.  But  the  level,  fertile  coun 
try  was  discovered  to  be  very  muddy,  its 
supply  of  rain  from  heaven  unparalleled  in 
nature,  its  streams  as  deadly  as  arsenic,  and 
its  topography  utterly  different  from  that 
assigned  to  it  in  any  known  geography. 
Furthermore,  in  its  woods,  and  it  was 
nearly  all  woods,  dwelt  far  more  mosquitos 
than  there  are  lost  souls  in  Hades,  and  each 
mosquito  had  a  hollow  spike  in  his  head 
through  which  he  not  only  could  but 
would  squirt,  with  or  without  provocation, 
the  triple  compound  essence  of  malaria 
into  veins  brought  up  on  oxygen,  and  on 
water  through  which  you  could  see  the 
pebbles  at  the  bottom.  A  bosom  friend  of 
the  mosquito,  and  some  say  his  paramour, 
was  little  Miss  Tick.  Of  the  two  she  was 
considerably  the  more  hellish,  and  forsook 
her  dwelling-places  in  the  woods  for  the 
warm  flesh  of  soldiers  where  it  is  rosiest, 
next  the  skin.  The  body,  arms,  and  legs 
200 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

of  Miss  Tick  could  be  scratched  to  nothing 
by  poisonous  finger-nails,  but  her  detached 
head  was  eternal,  and  through  eternity 
she  bit  and  gnawed  and  sometimes  laughed 
in  the  hollow  of  her  black  soul.  For  the 
horses,  mules,  and  cattle  there  were  shrubs 
which  disagreed  with  them,  and  gigantic 
horse-flies.  And  for  the  general  at  the 
head  of  the  vast  body  of  irritation  there 
was  an  opposing  army  whose  numbers  he 
overrated,  and  whose  whereabouts  he 
kept  discovering  suddenly.  It  is  said  that 
during  the  Peninsular  campaign  the  buz 
zards  were  so  well  nourished  that  they 
raised  a  second  brood. 

While  the  army  was  still  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Monroe,  numbers  of  officers 
secured  leave  to  ride  over  to  Newport 
News  and  view  the  traces  of  the  recent  and 
celebrated  naval  fight,  which  was  to  rele 
gate  wooden  battle-ships  to  the  fireplace. 
Aladdin  was  among  those  to  go.  At 
this  time  he  was  in  great  spirits,  for  it  had 
been  brought  home  to  him  that  he  was 
one  of  the  elect,  one  of  those  infinitely 
201 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

rare  and  godlike  creatures  whom  mos- 
quitos  do  not  bite  nor  ticks  molest.  His 
nights  were  as  peaceful  as  the  grave,  and 
the  poisonous  drinking-waters  glanced 
from  his  rubber  constitution.  Besides,  he 
had  forsaken  his  regimental  duties  to  en 
joy  a  life  of  constant  variety  upon  the  staff 
of  a  general,  and  had  begun  to  feel  at 
home  on  horseback. 

It  was  one  of  those  radiant,  smiling 
days,  which  later  on  were  to  become 
rarer  than  charity,  and  the  woods  were 
positively  festive  with  sunshine.  And  the 
temperature  was  precisely  that  which 
brings  to  a  young  man's  fancy  thoughts  of 
love.  So  that  it  was  in  the  nature  of  a 
shock  to  come  suddenly  upon  the  shore 
and  behold  for  the  first  time  the  finality  of 
war.  There  was  no  visible  glory  about  it. 
What  had  happened  to  the  Cumber 
land  and  the  Congress  was  disappoint 
ingly  like  what  would  happen  to  two 
ships  destroyed  in  shallow  water.  The 
masts  of  the  Cumberland,  slightly  off  the 
vertical  and  still  rigged,  projected  for  half 
202 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

their  length  from  the  yellow  surface  of  the 
river.  That  was  all.  Some  distance  to 
the  left  and  half  submerged  was  a  black 
ened  and  charred  mass  that  bore  some  re 
semblance  to  a  ship  that  had  once  been 
proud  and  tall,  and  known  by  the  name  of 
Congress.  That  was  all.  Aladdin  had 
hoped  that  war  would  be  a  little  more 
like  the  pictures. 

As  he  rode  back,  pondering,  toward 
the  encampment,  however,  he  came  upon 
something  which  was  truly  an  earnest 
of  what  was  to  come.  There  were  so  many 
buzzards  perched  in  the  trees  of  a  cer 
tain  wood  that  he  turned  in  to  see  what 
they  had.  He  came  upon  it  suddenly,  just 
beyond  a  cheerful  bush  of  holly,  and  the 
buzzards  stepped  reluctantly  back  until  he 
had  looked.  It  was  only  a  horse.  Some  of 
the  buzzards,  heavy  with  food,  raised  their 
eyelids  heavily  and  looked  at  Aladdin,  and 
then  lapsed  back  into  filthy  sleep.  Others, 
not  yet  satiated,  looked  upon  him  queru 
lously,  and  suggested  as  much  as  looks  can 
suggest  that  he  go,  and  trouble  them  no 
203 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

more.  Others,  the  newly  arrived  and  rav 
enous,  swooped  above  the  trees,  so  that 
dark  circles  were  drawn  over  the  fallen 
sunlight.  Now  a  buzzard  opened  and 
closed  its  wings,  and  now  one  looked  from 
the  horse  to  Aladdin,  and  back,  fretfully, 
to  the  horse.  There  seemed  to  be  hun 
dreds  of  them,  dark  and  dirty,  with  raw 
heads  and  eyelids.  Aladdin  sat  solemn 
and  motionless  upon  his  horse,  but  he 
could  feel  the  cold  sweat  of  horror  running 
down  his  sides  from  under  his  arms,  and 
the  bristling  of  his  hair.  He  wanted  to 
make  a  great  noise,  to  shout,  to  do  any 
thing,  but  he  did  not  dare.  It  would  have 
been  breaking  the  rules.  In  that  assem 
bly  no  sound  was  allowed,  for  the  meeting 
was  unholy  and  wicked  and  worked  with 
hurried  stealth,  so  that  the  attention  of  God 
should  not  be  drawn.  Aladdin  knew  that 
he  had  no  right  to  be  there,  that  without 
knocking  he  had  entered  the  bedroom  of 
horror  and  found  her  naked  in  the  arms  of 
lust.  He  turned  and  rode  away  shivering 
and  without  looking  back.  He  had  not 
204 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

ridden  the  distance  between  two  forest 
trees  before  the  carcass  was  again  black 
with  the  descending  birds,  and  the  blood 
streamed  to  their  bills. 

The  Peninsular  campaign  developed 
four  kinds  of  men :  the  survivors,  the 
wounded,  the  dead,  and  the  missing. 
When  the  campaign  was  over  Aladdin 
sometimes  woke  starting  in  the  night  to 
think  of  those  missing  and  of  what  he  had 
seen  in  the  woods. 


205 


XXIV 

iHE  tedious  locomotion  of  an  army 
and  the  incessant  reluctance  of 
the  battle  to  be  met  will  try  a 
sinner  ;  but  a  scarcity  of  tobacco  and  con 
stantly  wet  feet  will  try  a  saint.  Aladdin 
was  somewhat  of  both.  But  in  the  fidgety 
gloom  which  presently  settled  upon  man 
and  beast,  his  great  Irish  gift  of  cheerful 
ness  shone  like  a  star.  He  even  gave  up 
longing  for  promotion,  and  strained  his 
mind  to  the  cracking-point  for  humorous 
verses  and  catching  tunes.  He  went  sing 
ing  up  the  Peninsula,  and  thumped  the 
gay  banjo  by  the  camp-fire,  and  was 
greatly  beloved  by  the  foot-sore  and  sick. 
He  had  given  up  worrying  about  what  he 
would  do  in  battle,  for  there  were  much 
more  important  things  to  think  about. 
206 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Battles  are  to  soldiers  what  Christmas 
trees  are  to  children  :  you  must  wait,  wait, 
and  wait  for  them,  and  forever  wait;  and 
when  they  do  come  the  presents  are  apt 
to  be  a  little  tawdry.  And  you  are  only 
envied  by  the  other  little  children  who 
did  n't  really  see  what  you  really  got. 
The  most  comforting  man  in  the  army 
was  one  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
most  annoying  was  another.  The  first 
had  the  divine  gift  of  story-telling  and 
laughter,  and  the  second  thanked  God  be 
cause  the  soldiers  had  run  out  of  their 
best  friend,  tobacco,  which  he  described 
through  his  nose  as  "filthy  weed,"  "vile 
narcotic,"  or  "pernicious  hell-plant."  And 
they  both  served  the  Lord  as  hard  as 
they  could  —  and  they  both  suffered  from 
dysentery. 

As  the  days  passed  and  the  tempera 
ture  of  the  army  rose,  and  its  digestion 
became  permanently  impaired,  Aladdin,  by 
giving  out,  and  constantly,  all  that  was  best 
in  himself,  became  gradually  exhausted. 
He  found  himself  telling  stones  as  many 
207 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

as  three  times  to  the  same  man,  and  he 
began  to  steal  from  the  poets  and  musicians 
that  he  knew  in  order  to  keep  abreast  of 
his  own  original  powers  of  production. 
He  even  went  so  far  as  to  draw  inspira 
tion  from  men  of  uneven  heights  stood  in 
line :  he  would  hum  the  intervals  as  scored 
by  their  heads  on  an  imaginary  staff 
and  fashion  his  tune  accordingly,  but  this 
tended  to  a  somewhat  compressed  range 
and  was  not  always  happy  in  its  results. 
His  efforts,  however,  were  appreciated,  and 
the  emaciated  young  Irishman  became  a 
most  exceptional  prophet,  and  received 
honor  in  his  own  land. 

For  the  rest,  being  a  staff-officer,  he  was 
kept  busy  and  rode  hundreds  of  extra 
miles  through  the  rain.  It  was  a  large 
army,  as  inexperienced  as  it  was  large, 
and  it  stood  in  great  need  of  being  kept 
in  contact  with  itself.  .  If  you  lived  at  one 
end  of  it  and  wanted  to  know  what  was 
going  on  at  the  other  end,  you  had  to 
travel  about  as  far  as  from  New  York  to 
New  Haven.  The  army  proper,  marching 
208 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

by  fours,  stretched  away  through  the  wet 
lands  for  forty  miles.  A  fly-bitten  tail  of 
ambulances  and  wagons,  with  six  miser 
able  horses  or  six  perfectly  happy  mules 
attached  to  each,  added  another  twenty 
miles.  At  the  not  always  attained  rate  of 
fifteen  miles  a  day  the  army  could  pass  a 
given  point  in  four  days.  To  the  gods  in 
Olympus  it  would  have  appeared  to  have 
all  the  characteristic  color  and  shape  of 
an  angleworm,  without,  however,  enjoying 
that  reptile's  excellent  good  health.  If 
the  armies  of  Washington,  Cornwallis, 
Clive,  Pizarro,  Cortes,  and  Christian  de 
Wet  had  been  added  to  it,  they  would 
have  passed  unnoticed  in  the  crowd.  And 
the  recurring  fear  of  the  general  in  com 
mand  of  this  army  was  that  the  army  he 
sought  would  prove  to  be  twice  as  big. 
So  speculation  was  active  between  the 
York  and  James  rivers. 

In  the  minds  of  the  soldiers  a  thousand 
years  passed,  and  then  there  was  a  little 
fight,  and  they  learned  that  they  were  sol 
diers.     And  so  did  the  other  army.     An- 
14  209 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

other  thousand  years  passed,  and  it  seemed 
tactful  to  change  bases.  Accordingly, 
that  which  had  been  arduously  established 
on  a  muddy  river  called  the  Chickahominy 
(and  it  was  very  far  from  either  of  those 
two  good  things)  was  forsaken,  and  the 
host  began  to  be  moved  toward  the  James. 
This  move  would  have  been  more  smoothly 
accomplished  if  the  enemy  had  not  in 
terfered.  They,  however,  insisted  upon 
making  history,  turning  a  change  of  base 
into  a  nominal  retreat,  and  begetting  in 
themselves  a  brass-bound  and  untamable 
spirit  which  it  took  vast  wealth  and  sev 
eral  years  to  humble.  From  Gaines's  Mill 
to  the  awful  brow  of  Malvern  Hill  there 
were  thunder  and  death.  Forty  thousand 
men  were  somewhat  needlessly  killed, 
wounded,  or  (as  one  paradoxical  account 
has  it)  "found  missing." 

Aladdin  missed  the  fight  at  Malvern 
Hill  and  became  wounded  in  a  non-belli 
cose  fashion.  His  general  desired  to  make 
a  remark  to  another  general,  and  writing 
it  on  a  piece  of  thin  yellow  paper,  gave  it 
210 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

to  him  to  deliver.  He  rode  off  to  the  tune 
of  axes, —  for  a  Maine  regiment  was  put 
ting  in  an  hour  in  undoing  the  stately 
work  of  a  hundred  years, —  trotted  fifteen 
miles  peacefully  enough,  delivered  his 
general's  remark,  and  started  back.  Then 
came  night  and  a  sticky  mist.  Then  the 
impossibility  of  finding  the  way.  Aladdin 
rode  on  and  on,  courageously  if  not  wisely, 
and  came  in  time  to  the  dimly  discernible 
outbuildings  of  a  Virginia  mansion.  They 
stood  huddled  dark  and  wet  in  the  mist, 
which  was  turning  to  rain,  and  there  was 
no  sign  of  life  in  or  about  them.  Aladdin 
passed  them  and  turned  into  an  alley  of 
great  trees.  By  looking  skyward  he  could 
keep  to  the  road  they  bounded.  As  he 
drew  near  the  mansion  itself  a  great  smell 
of  box  and  roses  filled  his  nostrils  with 
fragrance.  But  to  him,  standing  under 
the  pillared  portico  and  knocking  upon  the 
door,  came  no  word  of  welcome  and  no 
stir  of  lights.  He  gave  it  up  in  disgust, 
mounted,  and  rode  back  through  the  rich 
mud  to  the  stables.  Had  he  looked  over 
211 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

his  shoulder  he  might  have  seen  a  face  at 
one  of  the  windows  of  the  house. 

He  found  a  door  of  one  of  the  stables 
unlocked,  and  went  in,  leading  his  horse. 
Within  there  was  a  smell  of  hay.  He 
closed  the  door  behind  him,  unsaddled, 
and  fell  to  groping  about  in  the  dark. 
He  wanted  several  armfuls  of  that  hay,  and 
he  could  n't  find  them.  The  hay  kept 
calling  to  his  nose,  "  Here  I  am,  here  I 
am  "  ;  but  when  he  got  there,  it  was  hiding 
somewhere  else.  It  was  like  a  game  of 
blindman's-buff.  Then  he  heard  the 
munching  of  his  horse  and  knew  that  the 
sought  was  found.  He  moved  toward 
the  horse,  stepped  on  a  rotten  planking, 
and  fell  through  the  floor.  Something 
caught  his  chin  violently  as  he  went 
through,  and  in  a  pool  of  filthy  water,  one 
leg  doubled  and  broken  under  him,  he 
passed  the  night  as  tranquilly  as  if  he  had 
been  dosed  with  laudanum. 


212 


XXV 

LADDIN  came  to  consciousness 
in  the  early  morning.  He  was 
about  as  sick  as  a  man  can  be 
this  side  of  actual  dissolution,  and  the 
pain  in  his  broken  leg  was  as  sharp  as  a 
scream.  He  lay  groaning  and  doubled 
in  the  filthy  half-inch  of  water  into  which 
he  had  fallen.  About  him  was  darkness, 
but  overhead  a  glimmer  of  light  showed 
a  jagged  and  cruel  hole  in  the  planking 
of  the  stable  floor.  Very  slowly,  for  his 
agony  was  unspeakable,  he  came  to  a 
realization  of  what  had  happened.  He 
called  for  help,  and  his  voice  was  thick 
and  unresonant,  like  the  voice  of  a  drunken 
man.  His  horse  heard  him  and  neighed. 
Now  and  again  he  lapsed  into  semi-un 
consciousness,  and  time  passed  without 
213 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

track.  Hours  passed,  when  suddenly  the 
glimmer  above  him  brightened,  and  he 
heard  light  footsteps  and  the  cackling  of 
hens.  He  called  for  help.  Instantly  there 
was  silence.  It  continued  a  long  time. 
Then  he  heard  a  voice  like  soft  music,  and 
the  voice  said,  "  Who  's  there?  " 

A  shadow  came  between  him  and  the 
light,  and  a  fair  face  that  was  darkened 
looked  down  upon  him. 

"  For  God's  sake  take  care,"  he  said. 
"Those  boards  are  rotten." 

"  You  're  a  Yankee,  are  n't  you  ? "  said 
the  voice,  sweetly. 

"Yes,"  said  Aladdin,  "and  I  'm  badly 
hurt." 

The  voice  laughed. 

"  Hurt,  are  you  ?  "  it  said. 

"I  think  I  Ve  broken  my  leg,"  said 
Aladdin.  "  Can  you  get  some  one  to  help 
me  out  of  this  ? " 

"  Reckon  you  're  all  right  down  there," 
said  the  voice. 

Aladdin  revolved  the  brutality  of  it  in 
his  mind. 

214 


"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  're  not 
going  to  help  me  ? "  he  said. 

"  Help  you  ?   Why  should  I  ?  " 

Aladdin  groaned,  and  could  have  killed 
himself  for  groaning. 

"  If  you  don't  help  me,"  he  said,  and  his 
voice  broke,  for  he  was  suffering  tortures, 
"  I  '11  die  before  long." 

A  perfectly  cool  and  cruel  "Well?"  came 
back  to  him. 

"  You  won't  help  me  ?  " 

"  No." 

Anger  surged  in  his  heart,  but  he  spoke 
with  measured  sarcasm. 

"Then,"  he  said,  "will  you  at  least  do 
me  the  favor  of  getting  from  between  me 
and  God's  light?  If  I  die,  I  may  go  to 
hell,  but  I  prefer  not  to  see  devils  this  side 
of  it,  thank  you." 

The  girl  went  away,  but  presently  came 
back.  She  lowered  something  to  him  on 
a  string.  "  I  got  it  out  of  one  of  your 
holsters,"  she  said. 

Aladdin's  fingers  closed  on  the  butt  of  a 
revolver. 

215 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  It  may  save  you  a  certain  amount  of 
hunger  and  pain,"  she  said.  "When  you 
are  dead,  we  will  give  it  to  one  of  our 
men,  and  your  horse  too.  He  's  a  beauty." 

"  I  hope  to  God  he  may  — "  began 
Aladdin. 

"  Pretty  !  "  said  the  girl. 

She  went  away,  and  he  heard  her  cluck 
ing  to  the  chickens.  After  a  time  she 
came  back.  Aladdin  was  waiting  with  a 
plan. 

"Don't  move,"  he  said,  "or  you  '11  be 
shot." 

"  Rubbish  !  "  said  the  girl.  She  leaned 
casually  back  from  the  hole,  and  he  could 
hear  her  moving  away  and  clucking  to  the 
chickens.  Again  she  returned. 

"  Thank  you  for  not  shooting,"  she 
said. 

There  was  no  answer. 

"Are  you  dead?"  she  said. 

When  he  came  to,  there  was  a  bright 
light  in  Aladdin's  eyes,  for  a  lantern 
swung  just  to  the  left  of  his  head. 

"I  thought  you  were  dead,"  said  the 
216 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

girl,  still  from  her  point  of  advantage. 
The  lantern's  light  was  in  her  face,  too, 
and  Aladdin  saw  that  it  was  beautiful. 

"Won't  you  help  me?"  he  said  plain 
tively. 

"Were  you  ever  told  that  you  had  nice 
eyes  ?  "  said  the  girl. 

Aladdin  groaned. 

"It  bores  you  to  be  told  that?  " 

' '  My  dear  young  lady, "  said  Aladdin,  ' '  if 
you  were  as  kind  as  you  are  beautiful - 

"  How  about  your  horse  kicking  me  to 
a  certain  place  ?  That  was  what  you 
started  to  say,  you  know." 

"Lady  —  lady,"  said  Aladdin,  "if  you 
only  knew  how  I  'm  suffering,  and  I  'm 
just  an  ordinary  young  man  with  a  sweet 
heart  at  home,  and  I  don't  want  to  die  in 
this  hole.  And  now  that  I  look  at  you,"  he 
said,  "  I  see  that  you  're  not  so  much  a  girl 
as  an  armful  of  roses." 

"  Are  you  by  any  chance  —  Irish  ?  "  said 
the  girl,  with  a  laugh. 

"  Faith  and  oi  ahm  that,"  said  Aladdin, 
lapsing  into  full  brogue;  "oi'm  a  hireling 
217 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

sojer,    mahm,    and    no    inimy    av     yours, 
mahm." 

"  What  will  you  do  for  me  if  I  help  you  ?" 
said  the  girl. 

"  Anything,"  said  Aladdin. 

"Will  you  say  'God  save  Jefferson  Davis, 
President  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,'  and  sing  '  Dixie  '  —  that  is,  if  you 
can  keep  a  tune.  '  Dixie  '  's  rather  hard." 

"I'll  'God  bless  Jefferson  Davis  and 
every  future  President  of  the  Confederate 
States,  if  there  are  any,'  ten  million  times, 
if  you  '11  help  me  out,  and  — 

"Will  you  promise  not  to  fight  any 
more?  " 

A  long  silence. 

"  No." 

"  You  need  n't  do  the  other  things 
either,"  said  the  girl,  presently.  Her  voice, 
oddly  enough,  was  husky. 

"  I  thought  it  would  be  good  to  see  a 
Yankee  suffer,"  she  said  after  a  while,  "  but 
it  is  n't." 

"If  you  could  let  a  ladder  down,"  said 
Aladdin,  "  I  might  be  able  to  get  up  it." 

"  I  '11  get  one,"  said  the  girl.     Then  she 
218 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

appeared  to  reflect.  "No,"  she  said;  "we 
must  wait  till  dark.  There  are  people 
about,  and  they  'd  kill  you.  Can  you  live 
in  that  hole  till  dark  ?  " 

"If  you  could  throw  down  a  lot  of  hay," 
said  Aladdin.  "  It's  very  wet  down  here 
and  hard." 

The  girl  went,  and  came  with  a  bundle 
of  hay. 

"  Look  out  for  the  lantern,"  she  called, 
and  threw  the  hay  down  to  him.  She 
brought,  in  all,  seven  large  bundles  and 
was  starting  for  the  eighth,  when,  by  a 
special  act  of  Providence,  the  flooring  gave 
again,  and  she  made  an  excellent  imitation 
of  Aladdin's  shute  on  the  previous  evening. 
By  good  fortune,  however,  she  landed  on 
the  soft  hay  and  was  not  hurt  beyond  a 
few  scratches. 

"  Did  you  notice,"  she  said,  with  a  little 
gasp,  "  that  I  did  n't  scream  ?  " 

"  You  are  n't  hurt,  are  you  ?  "  said  Alad 
din. 

"No,"  she  said;  "but  —  do  you  realize 
that  we  can't  get  out,  now  ?  " 

She  made  a  bed  of  the  hay. 
219 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  You  crawl  over  on  that,"  she  said. 

Aladdin  bit  his  lips  and  groaned  as  he 
moved. 

"  It 's  really  broken,  is  n't  it  ?  "  said  the 
girl. 

Aladdin  lay  back  gasping. 

"  You  poor  boy,"  she  said. 


220 


XXVI 

iHE  girl  borrowed  Aladdin's 
pocket-knife  and  began  whit 
tling  at  a  fragment  of  board. 
Then  she  tore  several  yards  of  ruffle  from 
her  white  petticoat,  cut  his  trouser  leg  off 
below  the  knee,  cut  the  lacings  of  his  boot, 
and  bandaged  his  broken  leg  to  the  splint 
she  had  made.  All  that  was  against  a 
series  of  most  courteous  protests,  made  in 
a  tearful  voice. 

When  she  had  done,  Aladdin  took  her 
hand  in  his  and  kissed  the  fingers. 

"They  're  the  smallest  sisters  of  mercy 
I  ever  saw,"  said  he. 

She  made  no  attempt  to  withdraw  her 
hand. 

"  It  was  stupid  of  me  to  fall  through," 
she  said. 

221 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN- 

"  Is  n't  there  any  possible  way  of  getting 
out?" 

"  No  ;  the  walls  are  stone." 

"  O  Lord  !  "  said  Aladdin. 

"  I  'm  glad  I  repented  before  I  fell 
through,"  said  the  girl. 

"So  am  I,"  said  Aladdin. 

"  What  were  you  doing  in  our  stable  ?  " 
said  the  girl. 

"  I  got  lost,  and  came  in  for  shelter." 

"You  came  to  the  house  first.  I  heard 
you  knocking,  and  saw  you  from  the  win 
dow.  But  I  would  n't  let  you  in,  because 
my  father  and  brother  were  away,  and  be 
sides,  I  knew  you  were  a  Yankee." 

"  It  was  too  dark  to  see  my  uniform." 

"  I  could  tell  by  the  way  you  rode." 

"Is  it  as  bad  as  that?" 

"No  —  but  it's  different." 

The  girl  laid  her  hand  on  Aladdin's 
forehead. 

"  You  Ve  got  fever,"  she  said. 

"  It  doesn't  matter,"  said  Aladdin,  po 
litely. 

"  Does  your  leg  hurt  awfully  ?  " 

222 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  It  doesn't  matter." 

"  Did  any  one  ever  tell  you  that  you 
were  very  civil  for  a  Yankee  ?  " 

"  It  does  n't  matter,"  said  Aladdin. 

She  looked  at  him  shrewdly,  and  saw 
that  the  light  of  reason  had  gone  out  of 
his  eyes.  She  wetted  her  handkerchief 
with  the  cold,  filthy  water  spread  over  the 
cellar  floor  and  laid  it  on  his  forehead. 
Aladdin  spoke  ramblingly  or  kept  silence. 
Every  now  and  then  the  girl  freshened  the 
handkerchief,  and  presently  Aladdin  fell 
into  a  troubled  sleep. 

When  he  awoke  his  mind  was  quite 
clear.  The  lantern  still  burned,  but  faint 
ly,  for  the  air  in  the  cellar  was  becoming 
heavy.  Beside  him  on  the  straw  the  girl 
lay  sleeping.  And  overhead  footsteps 
sounded  on  the  stable  floor.  He  remem 
bered  what  the  girl  had  said  about  the 
people  who  would  kill  him  if  they  found 
him,  and  blew  out  the  lantern.  Then,  his 
hand  over  her  mouth,  he  waked  the  girl. 

"  Don't  make  a  noise,"  he  said.  "  Lis 
ten." 

223 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

The  girl  sat  up  on  the  straw. 

"  I  '11  call,"  she  whispered  presently, 
"  and  pretend  you  're  not  here." 

"But  the  horse?" 

"  I  '11  lie  about  him." 

She  raised  her  voice. 

"Who  's  there  ?  "  she  called. 

"  It  's  I  —  Calvert.    Where  are  you  ?  " 

"Listen,"  she  answered;  "I  Ve  fallen 
through  the  floor  into  the  cellar.  Don't 
you  see  where  it  's  broken  ?  " 

The  footsteps  approached. 

"  You  're  not  hurt,  are  you  ?  " 

"  No;  but  don't  come  too  close,  don't  try 
to  look  down ;  the  floor  's  frightfully 
rickety.  Is  n't  there  a  ladder  there  some 
where  ?  " 

A  man  laughed. 

"Wait,"  he  said.  They  heard  his  foot 
steps  and  laughter  receding.  Presently 
the  bottom  of  a  ladder  appeared  through 
the  hole  in  the  floor. 

"  Look  out  for  your  head,"  said  the  man. 

The  girl   rose   and   guided   the   ladder 
clear  of  Aladdin's  head. 
224 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  What  have  you  done  with  the  Yankee's 
horse  ?  "  she  called. 

"He's  here." 

"Where  's  the  Yankee,  do  you  sup 
pose?" 

"  We  think  he  must  have  run  off  into 
the  woods." 

"That  's  what  I  thought." 

The  girl  began  to  mount  the  ladder. 

"  I  'm  coming  up,"  she  said. 

She  disappeared,  and  the  ladder  was 
withdrawn. 

She    came  back    after  a  long  time,    and 
there  were  men  with  her. 

"  It  's  all  right,  Yankee,"  she  called 
down  the  hole.  "  They  're  your  own  men, 
and  I  'm  the  prisoner  now." 

The  ladder  reappeared,  and  two  friendly 
men  in  blue  came  down  into  the  cellar. 

"Good  God  !  "  they  said.  "  It  's  Alad 
din  O'Brien  ! " 

Hannibal  St.  John  and  Beau  Larch 
lifted  Aladdin  tenderly  and  took  him  out 
of  his  prison. 

15  225 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Outside,  tents  were  being  pitched  in  the 
dark,  and  there  was  a  sound  of  axes.  Fires 
glowed  here  and  there  through  the  woods 
and  over  the  fields,  and  troops  kept  pour 
ing  into  the  plantation.  They  laid  Alad 
din  on  a  heap  of  hay  and  went  to  bring 
a  stretcher.  The  girl  sat  down  beside 
him. 

"  You  '11  be  all  right  now,"  she  said. 

"Yes,"  said  Aladdin. 

"  And  go  home  to  your  sweetheart." 

"Yes,"  said  Aladdin,  and  he  thought  of 
the  tall  violets  on  the  banks  of  the  Maine 
brooks,  and  the  freshness  of  the  sea. 

"  What  is  her  name  ?  "  said  the  girl. 

"Margaret,"  said  Aladdin. 

"Mine  's  Ellen,"  said  the  girl,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  she  sighed. 

Aladdin  took  her  hand. 

"  You  Ve  been  very  good  to  me,"  he 
said,  and  his  voice  grew  tender,  for  she 
was  very  beautiful,  "and  I  '11  never  forget 
you,"  he  said. 

"  Oh,  me  !  "  said  the  girl,  and  there  was  a 
silence  between  them. 
226 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  I  tried  to  help  you,"  said  the  girl, 
faintly,  "but  I  was  n't  very  good  at  it." 

"  You  were  an  angel,"  said  Aladdin. 

"  I  don't  suppose  we  '11  ever  see  each 
other  again,  will  we  ?  "  said  the  girl. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Aladdin.  "Per 
haps  I  '11  come  back  some  day." 

"  It  's  very  silly  of  me  —  "  said  the  girl. 

"  What  ?  "  said  Aladdin. 

"  Nothing." 

He  closed  his  eyes,  for  he  was  very 
weak.  It  seemed  as  if  a  great  sweetness 
came  close  to  his  face,  and  he  could  have 
sworn  that  something  wet  and  hot  fell 
lightly  on  his  forehead;  but  when  he  opened 
his  eyes,  the  girl  was  sitting  aloof,  her  face 
in  the  shadow. 

"I  dreamed  just  then,"  said  Aladdin, 
"that  something  wonderful  happened  to 
me.  Did  it? " 

"  What  would  you  consider  wonderful  ?  " 

Aladdin  laid  a  finger  on  his  forehead ; 
he  drew  it  away  and  saw  that  the  tip  was 
wet. 

"I  could  n't  very  well  say,"  he  said. 
227 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

The  girl  bent  over  him. 

"  It  nearly  happened,"  she  said. 

"  You  are  very  wonderful  and  beautiful," 
said  Aladdin. 

Her  eyes  were  like  stars,  and  she  leaned 
closer. 

"  Are  you  going  to  go  on  fighting 
against  my  people  ?  "  she  said. 

Roses  lay  for  a  moment  on  his  lips. 

"  Are  you  ?  " 

He  made  no  sign.  If  she  had  kissed 
him  again  he  would  have  renounced  his 
birthright  and  his  love. 

"  God  bless  and  keep  you,  Yankee," 
she  said. 

Tears  rushed  out  of  Aladdin's  eyes. 

"They  're  coming  to  take  you  away," 
she  said.  "  Good-by." 

"  Kiss  me  again,"  said  Aladdin,  hoarsely. 

She  looked  at  him  quietly  for  some 
moments. 

"  And  your  sweetheart  ?  "  she  said. 

Aladdin  covered  his  face  with  his  arm. 

"  Poor  little  traitor,"  said  the  girl,  sadly. 
She  rose  and,  without  looking  back,  moved 
slowly  up  the  road  toward  the  house. 
228 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Nor  did  Aladdin  ever  see  her  again,  but 
in  after  years  the  smell  of  box  or  roses 
would  bring  into  his  mind  the  wonderful 
face  of  her,  and  the  music  of  her  voice. 

In  the  delirium  which  was  upon  him  all 
that  night,  he  harped  to  the  surgeon  of 
Ellen,  and  in  the  morning  fell  asleep. 

"  Haec  olim  meminisse  juvabit,"  said 
the  surgeon,  as  rain-clouded  dawn  rose 
whitely  in  the  east. 


229 


XXVII 

LADDIN  was  jolted  miserably 
down  the  Peninsula  in  a  white 
ambulance,  which  mules  dragged 
through  knee-deep  mud  and  over  flowing, 
corduroy  roads.  He  had  fever  in  his 
whole  body,  anguish  in  one  leg,  and  hardly 
a  wish  to  live.  But  at  Fort  Monroe  the 
breezes  came  hurrying  from  the  sea,  like 
so  many  unfailing  doctors,  and  blew  his 
fever  back  inland  where  it  belonged. 
He  lay  under  a  live-oak  on  the  parade- 
ground  and  once  more  received  the  joy  of 
life  into  his  heart.  When  he  was  well 
enough  to  limp  about,  they  gave  him  leave 
to  go  home ;  and  he  went  down  into  a 
ship,  and  sailed  away  up  the  laughing 
Chesapeake,  and  up  the  broad  Potomac 
to  Washington.  There  he  rested  during 
one  night,  and  in  the  morning  took  train 
230 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

for  New  York.  The  train  was  full  of  sick 
and  wounded  going  home,  and  there  was 
a  great  cheerfulness  upon  them  all.  Men 
joined  by  the  brotherhood  of  common  ex 
perience  talked  loudly,  smoked  hard,  and 
drank  deep.  There  was  tremendous  boast 
ing  and  the  accounting  of  unrivaled  ad 
ventures.  In  Aladdin's  car,  however, 
there  was  one  man  who  did  not  join  in 
the  fellowship,  for  he  was  too  sick.  He 
had  been  a  big  man  and  strong,  but  he 
looked  like  a  ghost  made  of  white  gossa 
mer  and  violet  shadows.  His  own  mother 
would  not  have  recognized  him.  He  lay 
back  into  the  corner  of  a  seat  with  averted 
face  and  closed  eyes.  The  more  decent- 
minded  endeavored,  on  his  account,  to  im 
pose  upon  the  noisy  a  degree  of  quiet,  but 
their  efforts  were  unavailing.  Aladdin, 
drumming  with  his  nails  upon  the  window- 
pane,  fell  presently  into  soft  song : 

Give  me  three  breaths  of  pleasure 

After  three  deaths  of  pain, 
And  make  me  not  remeasure 

The  ways  that  were  in  vain. 

231 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Men  grew  silent  and  gathered  to  hear, 
for  Aladdin's  fame  as  a  maker  of  songs  had 
spread  over  the  whole  army,  and  he  was 
called  the  Minstrel  Major.  He  felt  his 
audience  and  sang  louder.  The  very  sick 
man  turned  a  little  so  that  he,  too,  could 
hear.  Only  the  occasional  striking  of  a 
match  or  the  surreptitious  drawing  of  a 
cork  interrupted.  The  stately  tune  moved 
on : 

The  first  breath  shall  be  laughter, 
The  second  shall  be  wine ; 

And  there  shall  follow  after 
A  kiss  that  shall  be  mine. 

Somehow  all  the  homing  hearts  were 
set  to  beating. 

Roses  with  dewfall  laden 
One  garden  grows  for  me ; 

I  call  them  kisses,  maiden, 
And  gather  them  from  thee. 

The  very  sick  man  turned  fully,  and 
there  was  a  glad  light  of  recognition  in 
his  eyes. 

232 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Give  me  three  kisses  only  — 
Then  let  the  storm  break  o'er 

The  vessel  beached  and  lonely 
Upon  the  lonely  shore. 

If  Aladdin's  singing  ever  moved  any 
body  particularly,  it  was  Aladdin,  and  that 
was  why  it  moved  other  people.  He  sang 
on  with  tears  in  his  voice : 

Give  me  three  breaths  of  pleasure 

After  three  deaths  of  pain, 
And  I  will  no  more  treasure 

The  hopes  that  are  in  vain. 

There  was  silence  for  a  moment,  more 
engaging  than  applause,  and  then  applause. 
Aladdin  was  in  his  element,  and  he  won 
dered  what  he  would  best  sing  next  if  they 
should  ask  him  to  sing  again,  and  this 
they  immediately  did.  The  train  was 
jolting  along  between  Baltimore  and 
Philadelphia.  There  was  much  beer  in 
the  bellies  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  and 
much  sentiment  in  their  hearts.  Aladdin's 
finger  was  always  on  the  pulse  of  his  audi 
ence,  and  he  began  with  relish : 

233 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Oh,  shut  and  dark  her  window  is 

In  the  dark  house  on  the  hill, 
But  I  have  come  up  through  the  lilac  walk 

To  the  lilt  of  the  whippoorwill, 
With  the  old  years  tugging  at  my  hands 

And  my  heart  which  is  her  heart  still. 

There  was  another  man  in  the  car  whose 
whole  life  centered  about  a  house  on  a  hill 
with  a  lilac  walk  leading  up  to  it.  He 
was  the  very  sick  man,  and  a  shadow  of 
red  color  came  into  his  cheeks. 

They  said, "  You  must  come  to  the  house  once  more, 

Ere  the  tale  of  your  years  be  done, 
You  must  stand  and  look  up  at  her  window  again, 

Ere  the  sands  of  your  life  are  run, 
As  the  night-time  follows  the  lost  daytime, 

And  the  heart  goes  down  with  the  sun." 

There  were  tears  in  the  very  sick  man's 
eyes,  for  the  future  was  hidden  from  him. 
Aladdin  sang  on : 

Though  her  window  be  darkest  of  every  one, 

In  the  dark  house  on  the  hill, 
Yet  I  turn  to  it  here  from  this  ruin  of  grass, — 

She  has  leaned  on  that  window's  sill, — 
And  dark  it  is,  but  there  is,  there  is 

An  echo  of  light  there  still ! 

234 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

There  was  great  applause  from  the  drunk 
and  sentimental.  And  Aladdin  lowered 
his  eyes  until  it  was  over.  When  he  raised 
them  it  was  to  encounter  those  of  the  very 
sick  man.  Aladdin  sprang  to  his  feet 
with  a  cry  and  went  limping  down  the 
aisle. 

"  Peter,"  he  cried,  "  by  all  that 's  holy  !  " 
All  the  tenderness  of  the  Celt  gushed 
into  Aladdin's  heart  as  he  realized  the 
pitiful  condition  and  shocking  emaciation 
of  his  friend.  He  put  his  arm  gently 
about  him,  and  thus  they  sat  until  the 
journey's  end.  In  New  York  they  sepa 
rated. 

Aladdin  rested  that  night  and  boarded  an 
early  morning  train  for  Boston.  He  set 
tled  himself  contentedly  behind  a  news 
paper,  and  fell  to  gathering  news  of  the 
army.  But  it  was  difficult  to  read.  A 
sentence  beginning  like  this :  "  Rumors  of 
a  savage  engagement  between  the  light 
horse  under — "  would  shape  itself  like 
this:  "  I  am  going  to  see  Margaret  to-mor- 

235 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

row  —  to-morrow  —  to-morrow  —  I  am 
going  to  see  Margaret  to-morrow  —  to 
morrow  —  and  God  is  good  —  is  good  —  is 
good." 

Oddly  enough,  there  was  another  man 
in  the  car  who  was  having  precisely  the 
same  difficulty  in  deciphering  his  news 
paper.  At  about  the  same  time  they  both 
gave  up  the  attempt,  and  their  eyes  met. 
And  they  laughed  aloud.  And  pres 
ently,  seated  together,  they  fell  into 
good  talk,  but  each  refrained  pointedly 
from  asking  the  other  where  he  was  going. 

With  a  splendid  assumption  of  inno 
cence,  they  drove  together  across  Boston, 
and  remarking  nothing  on  the  coincidence, 
each  distinctly  heard1  the  other  checking 
his  luggage  for  Portland,  Maine. 

Side  by  side  they  rolled  out  of  Portland 
and  saw  familiar  trees  and  hills  go  by. 
Presently  Aladdin  chuckled : 

"  Where  are  you  going,  Peter,  any 
way  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Just  where  you  are,"  said  Peter. 
236 


XXVIII 

'ETER,"said  Aladdin,  presently, 
"  it  seems  to  me  that  for  two  such 
old  friends  we  are  lacking  in  con 
fidence.  I  know  precisely  what  you  are 
thinking  about,  and  you  know  precisely 
what  I  am.  We  must  n't  play  the  jealous 
rivals  to  the  last ;  and  to  put  it  plainly, 
Peter,  if  God  is  going  to  be  good  to  you 
instead  of  me,  why,  I  'm  going  to  try  and 
thank  God  just  the  same.  A  personal  dis 
appointment  is  a  purely  private  matter  and 
has  no  license  to  upset  old  ties  and  affec 
tions.  Does  it  occur  to  you  that  we  are 
after  the  same  thing  and  that  one  of  us 
is  n't  going  to  get  it  ?  " 

"  We  won't  let  it  make  any  difference," 
said  Peter,  stoutly. 

"That's  just  it,"  said  Aladdin.  "We 
must  n't." 

237 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  The  situation  — "  Peter  began. 

"  Is  none  the  less  difficult,  I  know. 
Here  we  are  with  a  certain  amount  of 
leave  to  occupy  as  we  each  see  fit.  And, 
unfortunately,  there's  only  one  thing  which 
seems  fit  to  either  of  us.  And,  equally 
unfortunately,  it's  something  we  can't 
hold  hands  and  do  at  the  same  time. 
Shall  I  go  straight  from  the  station  to 
Mrs.  Brackett's  and  wait  until  you  Ve 
had  your  say,  Peter  ?  —  not  that  I  want  to 
wait  very  long,"  he  added. 

"That  would  n't  be  at  all  fair,"  said 
Peter. 

"  Do  you  mind,"  said  Aladdin  after  a 
pause,  "telling  me  about  what  your  chances 
are  ?  " 

Peter  reddened  uncomfortably. 

"  I  'm  afraid  they  're  not  very  good, 
'Laddin,"  he  said.  "She  —  she  said  she 
was  n't  sure.  And  that  's  a  good  deal 
more  apt  to  mean  nothing  than  every 
thing,  but  I  can't  straighten  my  life  out 
till  I'm  sure." 

"  My  chances,"  said  Aladdin,  critically, 

238 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"should  n't  by  rights  be  anywhere  near 
as  good  as  yours,  but  as  long  as  they  re 
main  chances  I  feel  just  the  same  as  you 
do  about  yours,  and  want  to  get  things 
straightened  out.  But  if  I  were  any  kind 
of  a  man,  I  'd  drop  it,  because  I  'm  not  in 
her  class." 

"  Nonsense,"  said  Peter. 

"  No,  I  'm  not,"  said  Aladdin,  gloomily. 
"  I  know  that.  But,  Peter,  what  is  a  man 
going  to  do,  a  single,  solitary,  pretty  much 
good-for-nothing  man,  with  three  great 
bouncing  Fates  lined  up  against  him  ?  " 

Peter  laughed  his  big,  frank  laugh. 

"  Shall  we  chuck  the  whole  thing,"  said 
Aladdin,  "  until  it  's  time  to  go  back  to 
the  army  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Peter,  "  that  would  be  shirk 
ing;  it  's  got  to  be  settled  one  way  or 
another  very  quickly."  He  became  grave 
again. 

"  I  think  so,  too,  Peter,"  said  Aladdin. 
"  And  I  think  that  if  she  takes  one  of  us 
it  will  be  a  great  sorrow  for  the  other." 

"And  for  her,"  said  Peter,  quietly. 

239 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Perhaps,"  said  Aladdin,  whimsically, 
"she  won't  take  either  of  us." 

"That,"  said  Peter,  "should  be  a  great 
sorrow  for  us  both." 

"  I  know,"  said  Aladdin.  "  Anyway, 
there  's  got  to  be  sorrow." 

"  I  think  I  shall  bear  it  better,"  said 
Peter,  "  if  she  takes  you,  'Laddin." 

A  flash  of  comparison  between  his  some 
what  morbid  and  warped  self  and  the  big 
ness  and  nobility  of  his  friend  passed 
through  Aladdin's  mind.  He  glanced  cov 
ertly  at  the  strong,  emaciated  face  beside 
him,  and  noted  the  steadiness  and  purity 
of  the  eyes.  A  little  quixotic  flame,  spring 
ing  like  an  orchid  from  nothing,  blazed 
suddenly  in  his  heart,  and  for  the  instant 
he  was  the  better  man  of  the  two. 

"  I  hope  she  takes  you,  Peter,"  he  said. 

They  rolled  on  through  the  midsummer 
woods,  heavy  with  bright  leaves  and  waist- 
deep  with  bracken  ;  little  brooks,  clean  as 
whistles,  piped  away  among  immaculate 
stones,  and  limpid  light  broken  by  deli 
cious  shadows  fell  over  all. 
240 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"Who  shall  ask  her  first?"  said  Alad 
din. 

Peter  smiled. 

"  Shall  we  toss  for  it?  "  said  Aladdin. 

Peter  laughed  gaily. 

"  Do  you  really  want  it  to  be  like  that  ?  " 
he  said. 

"  What  's  the  use  of  our  being  friends," 
said  Aladdin,  "  if  we  are  not  going  to  back 
each  other  up  in  this  of  all  things  ?  " 

"  Right !  "  said  Peter.  "  But  you  ought 
to  have  the  first  show  because  you  men 
tioned  it  first." 

"Rubbish!"  said  Aladdin.  "We  '11 
toss,  but  not  now ;  we  '11  wait  till  we  get 
there." 

Peter  looked  at  his  watch. 

"  Nearly  in,"  he  said. 

"  Yes,"  said  Aladdin.  "  I  know  by  the 
woods." 

"Did  you  telegraph,  by  any  chance?" 
said  Peter.  "  Because  I  did  n't." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Aladdin  ;  "  I  did  n't  want 
to  be  met." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Peter. 
16  241 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"The  sick  man  and  the  lame  man  will 
take  hands  and  hobble  up  the  hill,"  said 
Aladdin.  "  And  whatever  happens,  they 
must  n't  let  anything  make  any  difference." 

"No,"  said  Peter,  "they  must  n't." 


242 


XXIX 

[UR  veterans  walked  painfully 
through  the  town  and  up  the  hill ; 
nor  were  they  suffered  to  go  in 
peace,  for  right  and  left  they  were  recog 
nized,  and  people  rushed  up  to  shake  them 
by  the  hands  and  ask  news  of  such  an 
one,  and  if  Peter's  bullet  was  still  in  him, 
and  if  it  was  true,  which  of  course  they 
saw  it  was  n't,  that  Aladdin  had  a  wooden 
leg.  Aladdin,  it  must  be  owned,  enjoyed 
these  demonstrations,  and  in  spite  of  his 
lameness  strutted  a  little.  But  Peter, 
white  from  the  after  effects  of  his  wound 
and  weary  with  the  long  travel,  did  not  en 
joy  them  at  all.  Then  the  steep  pitch  of  the 
hill  was  almost  too  much  for  him,  and  now 
and  again  he  was  obliged  to  stop  and  rest. 
The  St.  Johns'  house  stood  among  lilacs 

243 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

and  back  from  the  street  by  the  breadth  of 
a  small  garden.  In  the  rear  were  large 
grounds,  fields,  and  even  woods.  The 
place  had  two  entrances,  one  immediately 
in  front  of  the  house  for  people  on  foot,  and 
the  other,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  for 
people  driving.  This  latter,  opening  from 
a  joyous  country  lane  of  blackberry-vines 
and  goldenrod,  passed  between  two  pro 
digious  round  stones,  and  S-ed  into  a  dark 
and  stately  wood.  Trees,  standing  gladly 
where  God  had  set  them,  made  a  screen, 
impenetrable  to  the  eye,  between  the  gate 
way  and  the  house. 

Here   Peter  and   Aladdin  halted,  while 
Aladdin  sent  a  coin  spinning  into  the  air. 

"  Heads  !  "  called  Peter. 

Aladdin  let  the  piece  fall  to  the  ground, 
and  they  bent  over  it  eagerly. 

"After  you,"  said    Peter,  for  the    coin 
read,  "Tails." 

Aladdin  picked  up  the  coin,  and  hurled 
it  far  away  among  the  trees. 

"  That 's  our  joint  sacrifice  to  the  gods, 
Peter,"  he  said. 

244 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Peter  gave  him  five  cents. 

"My  share,"  he  said. 

"  Peter,"  said  Aladdin,  "  I  will  ask  her 
the  first  chance  I  get,  and  if  there  's  no 
thing  in  it  for  me,  I  will  go  away  and 
leave  the  road  clear  for  you.  Come." 

"No,"  said  Peter;  "you've  got  your 
chance  now.  And  here  I  wait  until  you 
send  me  news." 

"  Lord  !  "  said  Aladdin,  "  has  it  got  to 
be  as  sudden  as  this  ?  " 

"  Let 's  get  it  over,"  said  Peter. 

"  Very  good,"  said  Aladdin.  "  I  '11  go. 
But,  Peter,  whatever  happens,  I  won't  keep 
you  long  in  suspense." 

"  Good  man,"  said  Peter. 

Aladdin  turned  his  face  to  the  house  like 
a  man  measuring  a  distance.  He  drew  a 
deep  breath. 

"Well  —  here  goes,"  he  said,  and  took 
two  steps. 

"  Wait,  'Laddin,"  said  Peter. 

Aladdin  turned. 

"  Can  I  have  your  pipe  ?  " 

"Of  course." 

245 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Aladdin  turned  over  his  pipe  and  pouch. 
"  I  'm  afraid  it 's  a  little  bitter,"  he  said. 

Again  he  started  up  the  drive ;  but  Peter 
ran  after  him. 

"  'Laddin,"  he  cried,  "wait — I  forgot 
something." 

Aladdin  came  back  to  meet  him. 

"Aladdin,"  said  Peter,  "I  forgot  some 
thing."  He  held  out  his  hand,  and  Aladdin 
squeezed  it. 

"  Aladdin,"  said  Peter,  "from  the  bottom 
of  my  heart  I  wish  you  luck." 

When  they  separated  again  there  were 
tears  in  the  eyes  of  both. 

Just  before  the  curtain  of  trees  quite 
closed  the  view  of  the  gate,  Aladdin  turned 
to  look  at  Peter.  Peter  sat  upon  one  of 
the  big  stones  that  marked  the  entrance, 
smoking  and  smoking.  He  had  thrown 
aside  his  hat,  and  his  hair  shone  in  the 
sun.  There  was  a  kind  of  wistfulness  in 
his  poise,  and  his  calm,  pure  eyes  were 
lifted  toward  the  open  sky.  A  great  hero- 
worship  surged  in  Aladdin's  heart,  and  he 
thought  that  there  was  nothing  that  he 
246 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

would  not  do  for  such  a  friend.  "  He 
gave  you  your  life  once,"  said  a  little  voice 
in  Aladdin's  heart;  "  give  him  his.  He  is 
worth  a  million  of  you  ;  don't  stand  in  his 
way." 

Aladdin  turned  and  went  on,  and  the 
well-known  house  came  into  view,  but  he 
saw  only  the  splendid,  wistful  man  at  the 
gate,  waiting  calmly,  as  a  gentleman 
should,  for  life  or  death,  and  smoking  — 
smoking. 

Even  as  he  made  his  resolve,  a  lump  of 
self-pity  rose  in  Aladdin's  throat.  That 
was  the  old  Adam  in  him,  the  base  clay 
out  of  which  springs  the  fair  flower  of  self- 
sacrifice. 

He  tried  a  variety  of  smiles,  for  he 
wished  to  be  easy  in  the  difficult  part 
which  he  had  so  suddenly,  and  in  the  face 
of  all  the  old  years,  elected  to  play.  "  She 
must  know  by  the  look  of  me,"  said  Alad 
din,  "  that  I  do  not  love  her  any  more,  for, 
God  help  me,  I  can't  say  it." 

He  found  her  on  the  broad  rear  veranda 
of  the  house.  And  instead  of  going  up  to 
247 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

her  and  taking  her  in  his  arms,  —  for  he 
had  planned  this  meeting  often,  as  the 
stars  could  tell, — he  stood  rooted,  and  said: 

"  Hallo,  Margaret!" 

He  acted  better  than  he  knew,  for  the 
great  light  which  had  blazed  for  one  in 
stant  in  her  eyes  on  first  seeing  him  went 
out  like  a  snuffed  candle,  and  he  did  not 
see  it  or  know  that  it  had  blazed.  There 
fore  his  own  cruelty  was  hidden  from  him, 
and  his  part  became  easier  to  play.  They 
shook  hands,  and  even  then,  if  he  had  not 
been  blinded  with  the  egotism  of  self-sacri 
fice,  he  might  have  seen.  That  was  his  last 
chance.  For  Margaret's  heart  cried  to 
her,  "  It  is  over,"  and  in  believing  it,  sud 
denly,  and  as  she  thought  forever,  an  older 
sweetness  came  in  her  face. 

"  You  Ve  changed,  Aladdin,"  she  said. 

"  Yes,  I'm  thinner,  if  possible,"  said 
Aladdin,  "  almost  willowy.  Do  you  think 
it 's  becoming  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  sure,"  said  Margaret.  "  The 
fact  remains  that  I  'm  more  than  glad  to 
see  you." 

248 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Aladdin  fumbled  for  speech. 

"  I  'm  still  a  little  lame,  you  see,"  he 
said  apologetically,  and  took  several  steps 
to  show. 

"  Very  !  "  said  Margaret,  in  such  a  voice 
that  Aladdin  wondered  what  she  meant. 

"  But  it  does  n't  hurt  anymore." 

"Then  that  's  all  right." 

"  Where  's  Jack  ?  "  he  asked  at  length. 

Margaret  became  very  grave. 

"I'm  afraid  we've  betrayed  our  trust, 
Aladdin,"  she  said.  "  Because  only  yes 
terday  he  slipped  away  and  left  a  little 
note  to  say  that  he  was  going  to  enlist. 
We  're  very  much  distressed  about  it." 

"Perhaps  it's  better  so,"  said  Aladdin, 
"  if  he  really  wanted  to  go.  Did  he  leave 
any  address  ? " 

"  None  whatever ;  he  simply  van 
ished." 

"  Ungrateful  little  brute  !  "  said  Aladdin. 
Then  he  bethought  him  of  Peter.  "  I  '11 
come  back  later,  Margaret,"  he  said,  "but 
it  behooves  me  to  go  and  look  up  the  good 
Mrs.  Brackett." 

249 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

He  hardly  knew  how  he  got  out  of  the 
house.  He  felt  like  a  criminal  who  has 
been  let  off  by  the  judge. 

The  sun  was  now  low,  and  the  shadows 
long  and  black.  Aladdin  found  Peter 
where  he  had  left  him,  balancing  on  the 
great  stone  at  the  entrance,  and  sending 
up  clouds  of  smoke.  He  rose  when  he 
saw  Aladdin,  and  he  looked  paler  and 
more  worn. 

"  Peter,"  said  Aladdin,  "  from  the  bot 
tom  of  my  heart  I  wish  you  luck." 

Aladdin  had  never  seen  just  such  a  look 
as  came  into  Peter's  eyes ;  at  once  they 
were  full  of  infinite  pity,  and  at  peace  with 
the  whole  world. 

"  Peter,"  said  Aladdin,  "give  me  back 
my  pipe."  His  voice  broke  in  spite  of 
himself,  for  he  had  given  up  golden  things. 
"I — "he  said,  "I'll  wait  here  a  little 
while,  but  if —  if  all  goes  well,  Peter,  don't 
you  bother  to  come  back." 

They  clasped  hands  long  and  in  silence. 
Then  Peter  turned   with   a  gulp,  and,  his 
weakness  a  thing  of  the  past,  went  striding 
250 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

up  the  driveway.  But  Aladdin  sat  down 
to  wait. 

And  now  a  great  piping  of  tree-frogs 
arose  in  all  that  country.  Aladdin  waited 
for  a  long  time.  He  waited  until  the  day 
gave  way  to  twilight  and  the  sun  went 
down.  He  waited  until  the  twilight 
turned  to  dark  and  the  stars  came  out. 
He  waited  until,  after  all  the  years  of  wait 
ing  and  longing,  his  heart  was  finally  at 
peace.  And  then  he  rose  to  go. 

For  Peter  had  not  yet  come. 


251 


im 


"Where  are  the  tall  men  that  inarched  on  the  right, 

That  marched  to  the  battle  so  handsome  and  tall  ? 
They  've  been  left  to  mark  the  places  where  they  saw  the 

foemen's  faces, 

For  the  fever  and  the  lead  took  them  all,  Jenny  Orde, 
The  fever  and  the  lead  took  them  all. 

"I  found  him  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  Jenny  Orde, 
With  the  bullets  spitting  up  the  ground  around  him, 
And  the  sweat  was  on  his  brow,  and  his  lips  were  on  his 

sword, 
And  his  life  was  going  from  him  when  I  found  him. 

"  We  lowered  him  to  rest,  Jenny  Orde, 

With  your  picture  on  his  breast,  Jenny  Orde, 
And  the  rumble  of  pursuit  was  the  regiment's  salute 
To  the  man  that  loved  you  best,  Jenny  Orde." 


XXX 

a  dam  breaking  gives  free  pas 
sage  to  the  imprisoned  waters, 
and  they  rush  out  victoriously, 
so  Vicksburg,  starving  and  crumbling  in 
the  West,  was  about  to  open  her  gates  and 
set  the  Father  of  Waters  free  forever. 
That  was  where  the  Union  hammer, 
grasped  so  firmly  by  strong  fingers  that 
their  knuckles  turned  white,  was  striking 
the  heaviest  blows  upon  the  cracking  skull 
of  the  Confederacy.  On  the  other  hand, 
Chancellorsville  had  verged  upon  disaster, 
and  the  powers  of  Europe  were  waiting 
for  one  more  Confederate  victory  in  order 
to  declare  the  blockade  of  Southern  ports 
at  an  end,  and  to  float  a  Southern  loan. 
That  a  Confederate  victory  was  to  be 
feared,  the  presence  in  Northern  territory 

255 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

of  Lee,  grasping  the  handle  of  a  sword, 
whose  splendid  blade  was  seventy  thou 
sand  men  concentrated,  testified.  That 
Lee  had  lost  the  best  finger  of  his  right 
hand  at  Chancellorsville  was  but  Job's 
comfort  to  the  threatened  government  at 
Washington.  That  government  was  still, 
after  years  of  stern  fighting,  trying  gen 
erals  and  finding  them  wanting.  But  now 
the  Fates,  in  secret  conclave,  weighed  the 
lots  of  Union  and  Disunion ;  and  that  of 
Disunion,  though  glittering  and  brilliant 
like  gold,  sank  heavily  to  the  ground,  as  a 
great  eagle  whose  wing  is  broken  by  the 
hunter's  bullet  comes  surely  if  fiercely 
down,  to  be  put  to  death. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  July  I,  1863, 
Lee  found  himself  in  the  neighborhood  of 
a  small  and  obscure  town  named  Gettys 
burg.  A  military  invasion  is  the  process 
of  occupying  in  succession  a  series  of 
towns.  To  occupy  Gettysburg,  which 
seemed  as  possible  as  eating  breakfast,  Lee 
sent  forward  a  division  of  a  corps,  and  fol 
lowed  leisurely  with  all  his  forces.  But 
256 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Gettysburg  and  the  ridges  to  the  west  of 
Gettysburg  were  already  occupied  by  two 
brigades  of  cavalry,  and  those,  with  a 
cockiness  begotten  of  big  lumps  of  armed 
friends  approaching  from  the  rear,  deter 
mined  to  go  on  occupying.  This,  in  a 
spirit  of  great  courage,  with  slowly  in 
creasing  forces,  against  rapidly  increasing 
forces,  they  did,  until  the  brisk  and  pliant 
skirmish  which  opened  the  business  of  the 
day  had  grown  so  in  weight  and  ferocity 
that  it  was  evident  to  the  least  astute 
that  the  decisive  battle  of  the  New  World 
was  being  fought. 


257 


XXXI 

'HERE  was  a  pretty  girl  in  Man 
chester,  Maryland  (possibly  sev 
eral,  but  one  was  particularly 
pretty),  and  Aladdin,  together  with  several 
young  officers  (nearly  all  officers  were 
young  in  that  war)  of  the  Sixth  Army  Corps, 
rather  flattered  himself  that  he  was  making 
an  impression.  He  was  all  for  making 
impressions  in  those  days.  Margaret  was 
engaged  to  marry  Peter  —  and  a  pretty 
girl  was  a  pretty  girl.  The  pretty  girl  of 
Manchester  had  several  girls  and  several 
officers  to  tea  on  a  certain  evening,  and 
they  remained  till  midnight,  making  a 
great  deal  of  noise  and  flirting  outrageously 
in  dark  corners.  Two  of  the  girls  got 
themselves  kissed,  and  two  of  the  officers 
got  their  ears  boxed,  and  later  a  glove 

258 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

each  to  stick  in  their  hat-bands.  At  mid 
night  the  party  broke  up  with  regret,  and 
the  young  officers,  seeking  their  quarters, 
turned  in,  and  were  presently  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  the  constant  in  heart.  But  Alad 
din  did  not  dream  about  the  pretty  girl  of 
Manchester,  Maryland.  When  he  could 
not  help  himself —  under  the  disadvantage 
of  sleep,  when  suddenly  awakened,  or  when 
left  alone — his  mind  harped  upon  Margaret. 
And  often  the  chords  of  the  harping  were 
sad  chords.  But  on  this  particular  night 
he  dreamed  well.  He  dreamed  that  her 
little  feet  did  wrong  and  fled  for  safety 
unto  him.  What  the  wrong  was  he  knew 
in  his  dream,  but  never  afterward  —  only 
that  it  was  a  dreadful,  unforgivable  wrong, 
not  to  be  condoned,  even  by  a  lover.  But 
in  his  dream  Aladdin  was  more  than  her 
lover,  and  could  condone  anything.  So 
he  hid  her  feet  in  his  hands  until  those 
who  came  to  arrest  them  had  passed,  and 
then  he  waked  to  find  that  his  hands  were 
empty,  and  the  delicious  dream  over.  He 
waked  also  to  find  that  it  was  still  dark, 

259 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  that  the  Sixth  Army  Corps  was  to 
march  to  a  place  called  Taneytown,  where 
General  Meade  had  headquarters.  He 
made  ready  and  presently  was  riding  by 
his  general  at  the  head  of  a  creaking  col 
umn,  under  the  starry  sky.  In  the  great 
hush  and  cool  that  is  before  a  July  dawn, 
God  showed  himself  to  the  men,  and  they 
sang  the  "  Battle-hymn  of  the  Republic," 
but  it  sounded  sweetly  and  yearningly,  as 
if  sung  by  thousands  of  lovers : 

Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory  of  the  coming  of  the 

Lord: 
He  is  trampling  out  the  vintage  where  the  grapes  of 

wrath  are  stored ; 
He  hath  loosed  the  fateful  lightning  of  His  terrible 

swift  sword : 
His  truth  is  marching  on. 

The  full  sunlight  gives  man  poise  and 
shows  him  the  practical  side  of  things,  but 
in  the  early  morning  and  late  at  night 
man  is  seldom  quite  rational.  He  weakly 
allows  himself  to  dwell  upon  what  was  not, 
is  not,  and  will  not  be.  And  so  Aladdin, 
during  the  first  period  of  that  march,  pre- 
260 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

tended  that  Margaret  was  to  be  his  and 
that  all  was  well. 

A  short  distance  out  of  Manchester  the 
column  met  with  orders  from  General 
Meade  and  was  turned  westward  toward 
Gettysburg.  With  the  orders  came  de 
tails  of  the  first  day's  fight,  and  Aladdin 
learned  of  the  officer  bringing  them,  for 
he  was  a  Maine  man,  that  Hamilton  St. 
John  was  among  the  dead. 

Aladdin  and  the  officer  talked  long  of 
the  poor  boy,  for  both  had  known  him  well. 
They  said  that  he  had  not  been  as  brilliant 
as  John,  nor  as  winning  as  Hannibal,  but 
so  honest  and  reliable,  so  friendly  and  un 
selfish.  They  went  over  his  good  qualities 
again  and  again,  and  spoke  of  his  great 
strength  and  purity,  and  of  other  things 
which  men  hold  best  in  men. 

And  now  they  were  riding  with  the  sun 
in  their  eyes,  and  white  dust  rolled  up 
from  the  swift  feet  of  horses  and  men. 
Wild  roses  and  new-mown  grass  filled  the 
air  with  delightful  fragrance,  and  such 
fields  as  were  uncut  blazed  with  daisies 
261 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  buttercups.  Over  the  trimmed  lawns 
about  homesteads  yellow  dandelions  shone 
like  stars  in  a  green  sky.  Men,  women, 
and  children  left  their  occupations,  and 
stood  with  open  mouths  and  wide  eyes  to 
see  the  soldiers  pass.  The  sun  rose  higher 
and  the  day  became  most  hot,  but  steadily, 
unflinchingly  as  the  ticking  of  a  clock,  the 
swift,  bleeding,  valiant  feet  of  the  Sixth 
Army  Corps  stepped  off  the  miles.  And 
the  men  stretched  their  ears  to  hear  the 
mumbled  distant  thunder  of  artillery  —  that 
voice  of  battle  which  says  so  much  and 
tells  so  little  to  those  far  off.  The  Sixth 
Corps  felt  that  it  was  expected  to  decide  a 
battle  upon  Northern  soil  for  the  North, 
and  marching  in  that  buoyant  hope,  left 
scarcely  a  man,  broken  with  fatigue  and 
disappointment,  among  the  wild  flowers 
by  the  side  of  the  way. 

If  you  have  ever  ridden  from  Cairo  to 
the  Pyramids  you  will  remember  that  at 
five  miles'  distance  they  look  as  huge  as  at 
a  hundred  yards,  and  that  it  is  not  until 
you  actually  touch  them  with  your  hand 
262 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

that  you  even  begin  to  realize  how  won 
derfully  huge  they  really  are.  It  was  so 
with  the  thunders  of  Gettysburg.  They 
sounded  no  louder,  and  they  connoted  no 
more  to  the  column  now  in  the  immediate 
vicinage  of  the  battle,  than  they  had  to  its 
far-distant  ears.  But  presently  the  column 
halted  behind  a  circle  of  hills,  and  beheld 
white  smoke  pouring  heavenward  as  if  a 
fissure  had  opened  in  the  earth  and  was 
giving  forth  steam.  And  they  beheld  in 
the  heavens  themselves  tiny,  fleecy  white 
clouds  and  motionless  rings,  and  they 
knew  that  shells  were  bursting  and  men 
falling  upon  the  slopes  beyond  the  hills. 

A  frenzy  of  eagerness  seized  upon  the 
tired  feet,  and  they  pressed  upward, 
lightly,  like  dancers'  feet.  Straps  creaked 
upon  straining  breasts,  and  sweat  ran  in 
bubbles.  Then  the  head  of  the  column 
reached  the  ridge  of  a  hill,  and  its  leaders 
saw  through  smarting  eyes  a  great  horse 
shoe  of  sudden  death. 


263 


XXXII 

»HAT  morning  Peter  Manners 
had  received  a  letter,  but  he  had 
not  had  a  chance  to  open  and 
read  it.  It  was  a  letter  that  belonged 
next  to  his  heart,  as  he  judged  by  the 
writing,  and  next  to  his  heart,  in  a  secure 
pocket,  he  placed  it,  there  to  lie  and  give 
him  strength  and  courage  for  the  cruel 
day's  work,  and  something  besides  the 
coming  of  night  to  look  forward  to.  For 
the  rest,  he  went  among  the  lines,  and 
smiled  like  a  boy  released  from  school  to 
see  how  silently  and  savagely  they  fought. 

The  Sixth  Corps  rested  wherever  there 
was  shade  along  the  banks  of  Rock  Creek, 
and  gathered  strength  and  breath  for 
whatever  work  should  be  assigned  to  it. 
264 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Aladdin,  sharing  a  cherry-pie  with  a  friend, 
shivered  with  excitement,  for  there  was  a 
terrific  and  ever-increasing  discharge  of 
cannons  and  muskets  on  the  left,  and  it 
seemed  that  the  time  to  go  forward  again 
and  win  glory  was  at  hand.  Presently 
one  came  riding  back  from  the  battle.  His 
face  was  shining  with  delight,  and,  sitting 
like  a  centaur  to  the  fiery  plunges  of  his 
horse,  he  swung  his  hat  and  shouted.  It  was 
Sedgwick's  chief  of  staff,  McMahon,  and 
he  brought  glorious  news,  for  he  said  that 
the  corps  was  to  move  toward  the  heavy 
firing,  where  the  fighting  was  most  severe. 
Then  the  whole  corps  sprang  to  its  feet 
and  went  forward,  tearing  down  the  fences 
in  its  path  and  trampling  the  long  grass  in 
the  fields.  A  mile  away  the  long,  flowery 
slopes  ended  in  a  knobbed  hill  revealed 
through  smoke.  That  was  Little  Round 
Top,  and  its  possession  meant  victory  or 
defeat.  The  corps  was  halted  and  two 
regiments  were  sent  forward  up  the  long 
slope.  To  them  the  minutes  seemed  mo 
ments.  They  went  like  a  wave  over  the 
265 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

crest  to  the  right  of  the  hill,  and  poured 
down  into  the  valley  beyond.  Here  the 
blue  flood  of  men  banked  against  a  stone 
wall,  spreading  to  right  and  left,  as  the 
waters  of  a  stream  spread  the  length  of  a 
dam.  Then  they  began  to  fire  dreadfully 
into  the  faces  of  their  enemy,  and  to  curse 
terribly,  as  is  proper  in  battle.  Bullets 
stung  the  long  line  like  wasps,  and  men 
bit  the  sod. 

Aladdin  was  ordered  to  ride  up  Little 
Round  Top  for  information.  Half-way 
up  he  left  his  horse  among  the  boulders 
and  finished  the  laborious  ascent  on  foot. 
At  the  summit  he  came  upon  a  leaderless 
battery  loading  and  firing  like  clockwork, 
and  he  saw  that  the  rocks  were  strewn 
with  dead  men  in  light-blue  Zouave  uni 
forms,  who  looked  as  if  they  had  fallen  in 
a  shower  from  the  clouds.  Many  had 
their  faces  caved  in  with  stones,  and  terri 
ble  rents  showed  where  the  bayonet  had 
been  at  work,  for  in  this  battle  men  had 
fought  hand  to  hand  like  cave-dwellers. 
Bullets  hit  the  rocks  with  stinging  blows, 
266 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  round  shot  screamed  in  the  air. 
Sometimes  a  dead  man  would  be  lifted 
from  where  he  lay  and  hurled  backward, 
while  every  instant  men  cried  hoarsely  and 
joined  the  dead.  In  the  midst  of  this 
thunder  and  carnage,  Aladdin  came  sud 
denly  upon  Peter,  smiling  like  a  favorite 
at  a  dance,  and  shouted  to  him.  They 
grinned  at  each  other,  and  as  Aladdin 
grinned  he  looked  about  to  see  where 
he  could  be  of  use,  and  sprang  toward 
a  gun  half  of  whose  crew  had  been  blasted 
to  death  by  a  bursting  shell.  The  sweat 
ran  down  his  face,  and  already  it  was 
black  with  burning  powder.  The  flash 
of  the  guns  set  fire  to  the  clothing  of 
the  dead  and  wounded  who  lay  in  front, 
and  on  the  recoil  the  iron-shod  wheels 
broke  the  bones  of  those  lying  behind. 
It  was  impossible  to  know  how  the  fight 
was  going.  It  was  only  possible  to  go 
on  fighting. 

There  was  a  voice  in  front  of  the  bat 
tery  that  kept  calling  so  terribly  for  water 
that  it  turned  cold  the  stomachs  of  those 
267 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

that  heard.  It  came  from  a  Confederate, 
a  general  officer,  who  had  been  wounded 
in  the  spine.  Occasionally  it  was  possible 
to  see  him  through  the  smoke.  Sometimes 
a  convulsion  seized  him,  and  he  beat  the 
ground  with  his  whole  body,  as  a  great 
fish  that  has  been  drawn  from  the  water 
beats  the  deck  of  a  vessel.  It  was  terrible 
to  look  at  and  hear.  Bullets  and  shot  tore 
the  ground  about  the  man  and  showered 
him  with  dust  and  stones.  Aladdin  shook 
his  canteen  and  heard  the  swish  of  water. 
It  seemed  to  him,  and  his  knees  turned  to 
water  at  the  thought,  that  he  must  go  out 
into  that  place  swept  by  the  fire  of  both 
sides,  and  give  relief  to  his  enemy.  He 
did  not  want  to  go,  and  fear  shook  him ; 
but  he  threw  down  the  rammer  which  he 
had  been  serving,  and  drawing  breath  in 
long  gasps,  took  a  step  forward.  His  re 
solve  came  too  late.  A  blue  figure  slipped 
by  him  and  went  down  the  slope  at  a  run. 
It  was  Manners.  They  saw  him  kneel 
by  the  dying  Confederate  in  the  bright  sun 
light,  and  then  smoke  swept  between  like 
268 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

a  wave  of  fog.  The  red  flashes  of  the 
guns  went  crashing  into  the  smoke,  and 
on  all  sides  men  fell.  But  presently  there 
came  a  star-shaped  explosion  in  the  midst 
of  the  smoke,  hurling  it  back,  and  they 
saw  Manners  again.  He  was  staggering 
about  with  his  hands  over  his  eyes,  and 
blood  was  running  through  his  fingers. 
Even  as  they  looked,  a  shot  struck  him  in 
the  back,  and  he  came  down.  They  saw 
his  splendid  square  chest  heaving,  and 
knew  that  he  was  not  yet  dead.  Then  the 
smoke  closed  in,  but  this  time  another  fig 
ure  was  hidden  by  the  smoke.  For  no 
sooner  did  Aladdin  see  Peter  fall  than  he 
sprang  forward  like  a  hound  from  the  leash. 
Aladdin  kneeled  by  Manners,  and  as  he 
kneeled  a  bullet  struck  his  hat  from  his 
head,  and  a  round  shot,  smashing  into  the 
rocky  ground  a  dozen  feet  away,  filled  his 
eyes  with  dirt  and  sparks.  There  was  a 
pungent  smell  of  brimstone  from  the  furi 
ous  concussions  of  iron  against  rock.  A 
bullet  struck  the  handle  of  Aladdin's  sword 
and  broke  it.  He  unstopped  his  canteen 
269 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  pressed  the  nozzle  to  Manners'  lips. 
Manners  sucked  eagerly,  like  an  infant  at 
its  mother's  breast.  A  bullet  struck  the 
canteen  and  dashed  it  to  pieces.  The 
crashing  of  the  cannon  was  like  close  thun 
der,  and  the  air  sang  like  the  strings  of 
an  instrument.  But  Aladdin,  so  cool  and 
collected  he  was,  might  have  been  the  tar 
get  for  praises  and  roses  flung  by  beauties. 
He  put  his  lips  close  to  Peter's  ear,  and 
spoke  loudly,  for  the  noise  of  battle  was 
deafening. 

''Is  it  much,  darlint?" 

Manners  turned  his  bleeding  eyes  to 
ward  Aladdin. 

"  Go   back,  you   damn  little    fool ! "  he 
said. 

"Peter,    Peter,"    said    Aladdin,    "can't 
you  see  ?  " 

"  No,  I  can't.     I  'm   no  use   now.     Go 
back ;  go  back  and  give  'em  hell !  " 

Aladdin  endeavored  to  raise  Peter  in  his 
arms,  but  was  not  strong  enough. 

"I  can't  lift  you,  I  can't  lift  you,"  he 
said. 

270 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  You  can't,"  said  Peter.  "  Bless  you 
for  coming,  and  go  back." 

"Shut  up,  will  you?"  cried  Aladdin, 
savagely.  "  Where  are  you  hit  ?" 

"  In  the  back,"  said  Peter,  "  and  I  'm 
done  for." 

"The  hell  you  are!"  said  Aladdin. 
Tears  hotter  than  blood  were  running  out 
of  his  eyes.  "What  can  I  do  for  you, 
Peter?  "  he  said  in  a  husky  voice. 

Manners'  blackened  fingers  fumbled  at 
the  buttons  of  his  coat,  but  he  had  not  the 
strength  to  undo  them. 

"It's  there,  'Laddin,"  he  said. 

"What's  there?"  said  Aladdin.  He 
undid  the  coat  with  swift,  clever  fingers. 

"  Let  me  hold  it  in  my  hands,"  said 
Peter. 

"Is  it  this  —  this  letter  —  this  letter 
from  Margaret  ? "  asked  Aladdin,  chok 
ingly,  for  he  saw  that  the  letter  had  not 
been  opened. 

A  shower  of  dirt  and  stones  fell  upon 
them,  and  a  shell  burst  with  a  sharp  crash 
above  their  heads. 

271 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"  Yes,"  said  Peter.  "  Give  it  to  me.  I 
can't  ever  read  it  now." 

"I  can  read  it  for  you,"  said  Aladdin. 
He  was  struggling  with  a  sob  that  wanted 
to  tear  his  throat. 

"  Will  you  ?  Will  you  ?  "  cried  Peter, 
and  he  smiled  like  a  beautiful  child. 

"Sure  I  will,"  said  Aladdin. 

With  the  palm  of  his  hand  he  pressed 
back  the  streaming  sweat  from  his  fore 
head  twice  and  three  times.  Then,  hav 
ing  wiped  his  hands  upon  his  knees,  he 
drew  the  battered  fragment  of  his  sword, 
and  using  it  as  a  paper-knife,  opened  the 
letter  carefully,  as  a  man  opens  letters 
which  are  not  to  be  destroyed.  Then  his 
stomach  turned  cold  and  his  tongue  grew 
thick  and  burred.  For  the  letter  which 
Margaret  had  written  to  her  lover  was 
more  cruel  than  the  shell  which  had 
blinded  his  eyes  and  the  bullet  which  was 
taking  his  life. 

"'Laddin  —  "  this  in  a  fearful  voice. 

-Yes." 

"  Thank  God.     I  thought  you  'd  been 
hit.     Why  don't  you  read  ? " 
272 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Aladdin's  eyes,  used  to  reading  in  blocks 
of  lines  rather  than  a  word  at  a  time,  had 
at  one  glance  taken  in  the  purport  of  Mar 
garet's  letter,  and  his  wits  had  gone  from 
him.  She  called  herself  every  base  and 
cruel  name,  and  she  prayed  her  lover  to 
forgive  her,  but  she  had  never  had  the 
right  to  tell  him  that  she  would  marry  him, 
for  she  had  never  loved  him  in  that  way. 
She  said  that,  God  forgive  her,  she  could 
not  keep  up  the  false  position  any  longer, 
and  she  wished  she  was  dead. 

"There  s  a  man  at  the  bottom  of  this," 
thought  Aladdin.  He  caught  a  glimpse 
of  Peter's  poor,  bloody  face  and  choked. 

"I  —  it  —  the  sheets  are  mixed,"  he  said 
presently.  "I  'm  trying  to  find  the  begin 
ning.  There  are  eight  pages,"  he  went 
on,  fighting  for  time,  "and  they  're  folded 
all  wrong,  and  they  're  not  numbered  or 
anything." 

Peter  waited  patiently  while  Aladdin 
fumbled  with  the  sheets  and  tried,  to  the 
cracking-point,  to  master  the  confusion  in 
hismind. 

Suddenly  God  sent  light,  and  he  could 

18  273 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

have  laughed  aloud.  Not  in  vain  had  he 
pursued  the  muse  and  sought  after  the 
true  romance  in  the  far  country  where 
she  sweeps  her  skirts  beyond  the  fingers 
of  men.  Not  in  vain  had  he  rolled  the 
arduous  ink-pots  and  striven  manfully  for 
the  right  word  and  the  telling  phrase. 
The  chance  had  come,  and  the  years  of 
preparation  had  not  been  thrown  away. 
He  knew  that  he  was  going  to  make  good 
at  last.  His  throat  cleared  of  itself,  and 
the  choking  phlegm  disappeared  as  if  be 
fore  a  hot  flame  of  joy.  His  voice  came 
from  between  his  trembling  lips  clear  as  a 
bell,  and  the  thunder  of  battle  rolled  back 
from  the  plain  of  his  consciousness,  as, 
slowly,  tenderly,  and  helped  by  God,  he 
began  to  speak  those  eight  closely  lined 
pages  which  she  should  have  written. 

"My  Heart's  Darling  — "  he  began, 
and  there  followed  a  molten  stream  of 
golden  and  sacred  words. 

And  the  very  soul  of  Manners  shouted 
aloud,  for  the  girl  was  speaking  to  him  as 
she  had  never  spoken  before. 
274 


XXXIII 

HEN  the  fighting  was  over  for 
that  day,  Aladdin  wrote  as  fol 
lows  to  Margaret : 


MARGARET  DEAR  :  Peter  was  shot  down  to-day, 
while  doing  more  than  his  duty  by  his  enemies  and 
by  his  country  and  by  himself,  which  was  always  his 
way.  He  will  not  live  very  long,  and  you  must  come 
to  him  if  it  is  in  any  way  possible.  His  love  for  you 
makes  other  loves  seem  very  little,  and  I  think  it 
would  be  better  that  you  should  walk  the  streets  than 
that  you  should  refuse  to  come  to  him  now.  He  had 
a  letter  from  you,  which  God,  knowing  about,  blinded 
him  so  that  he  could  not  read  it,  and  he  believes  that 
you  love  him  and  are  faithful  to  him.  It  is  very  mer 
ciful  of  God  to  let  him  believe  that.  He  must  not  be 
undeceived  now,  and  you  must  come  and  be  lovely  to 
him  and  pretend  and  pretend,  and  make  his  dying 
beautiful.  I  have  the  right  to  ask  this  of  you,  for, 
next  to  Peter,  I  was  the  one  that  loved  you  most. 
And  when  I  made  you  think  I  did  n't  I  lied.  I  lied 

275 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

because  I  felt  that  I  was  not  worthy,  and  I  loved  you 
enough  to  want  you  to  belong  to  the  best  man  God 
ever  made,  and  I  loved  him  too.  And  that  was  why 
it  was.  I  tell  you  because  I  think  you  must  have 
wondered  about  it  sometimes.  But  it  was  very  hard 
to  do,  and  because  I  did  it,  and  because  Peter  is  what 
he  is,  you  must  come  to  him  now.  If  God  will  con 
tinue  to  be  merciful,  you  will  get  here  in  time.  I  hope 
I  may  be  on  hand  to  see  you,  but  I  do  not  know. 
Hamilton  is  gone,  and  Peter  is  going,  and  there  will 
be  a  terrible  battle  to-morrow,  and  thousands  of  poor 
lads  will  lie  on  this  field  forever.  And  here,  one  way 
or  another,  the  war  will  be  decided.  I  have  not  the 
heart  to  write  to  you  any  more,  my  darling.  You 
will  come  to  Peter,  I  know,  and  all  will  be  as  well  as  it 
can  be.  I  pray  to  God  that  I  too  shall  live  to  see  you 
again,  and  I  ask  him  to  bless  you  and  keep  you  for  ever 
and  ever.  Always  I  see  your  dear  face  before  me  in  the 
battle,  and  sometimes  at  night  God  lets  me  dream  of 
you.  I  am  without  dogma,  sweetest  of  all  possible 
sweethearts,  but  this  creed  I  say  over  and  over,  and 
this  creed  I  believe :  I  believe  in  one  God,  Maker  of 
heaven  and  Margaret. 

Angels  guard  you,  darling. 

ALADDIN. 
GETTYSBURG,  July  2,  1863. 


276 


XXXIV 

the  morning  of  the  third  day  of 
July,  young  Hannibal  St.  John 
shaved  his  face  clean  and  put 
himself  into  a  new  uniform.  The  old  nth 
Maine  was  no  longer  a  regiment,  but  a 
name  of  sufficient  glory.  On  three  occa 
sions  it  had  been  shot  to  pieces,  and  after 
the  third  the  remaining  tens  were  ab 
sorbed  by  other  regiments.  Hannibal's 
father  had  obtained  for  him  a  lieutenancy 
in  the  United  States  artillery,  Beau  Larch 
was  second  lieutenant  in  another  Maine 
regiment,  and  John,  the  old  and  honored 
colonel  of  the  nth,  was  now,  like  Aladdin, 
serving  on  a  staff. 

The   battle    began    with    a    movement 
against  Johnson  on  the  Confederate  left, 
and  one  against  Longstreet  on  their  right. 
277 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

That  against  Longstreet  became  known  in 
history  as  Farnsworth's  charge,  and  Alad 
din  saw  it  from  the  signal-station  on  Little 
Round  Top. 

It  was  a  series  of  blue  lines,  whose  re 
lations  to  one  another  could  not  be  justly 
estimated,  because  of  the  wooded  nature 
of  the  ground,  which  ran  out  into  open 
places  before  fences  and  woods  that  spat 
red  fire,  and  became  thinner  and  of  less 
extension,  as  if  they  had  been  made  of  wax 
and  were  melting  under  the  blaze  of  the 
July  sun.  In  that  charge  Farnsworth  fell 
and  achieved  glory. 

Aladdin  held  a  field-glass  to  his  eyes 
with  trembling  hands,  and  watched  the 
cruel  mowing  of  the  blue  flowers.  Some 
times  he  recognized  a  man  that  he 
knew,  and  saw  him  die  for  his  country. 
Three  times  he  saw  John  St.  John  in  the 
forefront  of  the  battle.  The  first  time  he 
was  riding  a  glorious  black  horse,  of  spirit 
and  proportions  to  correspond  with  those 
of  the  hero  himself.  The  second  time  he 
was  on  foot,  running  forward  with  a  halt 
278 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

in  his  stride,  hatless,  and  carrying  a  great 
battle-flag.  Upon  the  top  of  it  gleamed  a 
gold  eagle,  that  nodded  toward  the  enemy. 
A  dozen  blue-coated  soldiers,  straggling 
like  the  finishers  in  a  long-distance  race, 
followed  him  with  bayonets  fixed.  The 
little  loose  knot  of  men  ran  across  a  field 
toward  a  stone  wall  that  bounded  it  upon 
the  other  side.  Then  white  smoke  burst 
from  the  wall,  and  they  were  cut  down  to 
the  last  man.  The  smoke  cleared,  and 
Aladdin  saw  John  lying  above  the  great 
flag  which  he  had  carried.  A  figure  in 
gray  leaped  the  stone  wall  and  ran  out  to 
him,  stooped,  and  seizing  the  staff  of  the 
flag  in  both  hands,  braced  his  hands  and 
endeavored  to  draw  it  from  beneath  the 
great  body  of  the  hero.  But  it  would  not 
come,  and  as  he  bent  closer  to  obtain  a  bet 
ter  hold,  the  back  of  a  great  clenched  hand 
struck  him  across  the  jaw,  and  he  fell  like 
a  log.  Other  men  in  gray  leaped  the  wall 
and  ran  out.  The  flag  came  easily  now, 
for  St.  John  was  dead;  but  so  was  the  gray 
brother,  for  his  comrades  raised  him,  and 
279 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

his  head  hung  back  over  his  left  shoulder, 
and  they  saw  that  his  neck  had  been 
broken  like  a  dry  stick. 

Aladdin  had  not  been  sent  to  that  place 
to  mourn,  but  to  gain  information.  Twice 
and  three  times  he  wiped  his  eyes  clear  of 
tears,  and  then  he  swept  his  faltering  glass 
along  the  lines  of  the  enemy,  until,  ranged 
in  their  center,  he  beheld  a  great  semicircle 
of  a  hundred  and  more  iron  and  brass  can 
nons,  and  movements  of  troops.  Then 
Aladdin  scrambled  down  from  Little 
Round  Top  to  report  what  he  had  seen  in 
the  center  of  the  Confederate  lines. 

At  one  o'clock  the  Confederate  batteries, 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  pieces  in  all, 
opened  their  tremendous  fire  upon  the 
center  of  the  Union  lines.  Eighty  can 
nons  roared  back  at  them  with  defiant 
thunder,  and  the  blue  sky  became  hidden 
by  smoke.  Among  the  Union  batteries 
horses  began  to  run  loose,  cannons  to  be 
splintered  like  fire-wood,  and  caissons  to 
explode.  At  these  moments  men,  horses, 
fragments  of  men  and  horses,  stones,  earth, 

280 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

and  things  living  and  things  dead  were 
hurled  high  into  the  air  with  great  blasts 
of  flame  and  smoke,  and  it  was  possible  to 
hear  miles  of  exultant  yells  from  the  hills 
opposite.  But  fresh  cannon  were  brought 
lumbering  up  at  the  gallop  and  rolled  into 
the  places  of  those  dismantled,  shot  and 
shell  and  canister  and  powder  were  rushed 
forward  from  the  reserve,  and  the  grim, 
silent  infantry,  the  great  lumbermen  of 
Maine  and  Vermont,  the  shrill-voiced  regi 
ments  from  New  York,  the  shrewd  farmers 
of  Ohio  and  Massachusetts,  the  deliberate 
Pennsylvanians,  and  the  rest,  lay  closely, 
wherever  there  was  shelter,  and  moistened 
their  lips,  and  gripped  their  rifles,  and 
waited  —  waited. 

For  two  hours  that  terrible  cannonading 
was  maintained.  The  men  who  served 
the  guns  looked  like  stokers  of  ships,  for, 
such  was  the  heat,  many  of  them,  casting 
away  first  one  piece  of  clothing  and  then 
another,  were  half  naked,  and  black  sweat 
glistened  in  streams  on  their  chests  and 
backs.  As  sight-seers  crowd  in  eagerly  by 
281 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

one  door  of  a  building  where  there  is  an 
exhibition,  and  come  reluctantly  out  by 
another  and  go  their  ways,  so  the  reserves 
kept  pressing  to  the  front,  and  the  wounded 
maintained  an  unceasing  reluctant  stream 
to  the  rear. 

A  little  before  three  o'clock  Hannibal 
St.  John  had  his  right  knee  smashed  by 
the  exploding  of  a  caisson,  and  fell  behind 
one  of  the  guns  of  his  battery.  He  was  so 
sure  that  he  was  to  be  killed  on  this  day 
that  it  had  never  occurred  to  him  that  he 
might  be  trivially  wounded  and  carried  to 
the  rear  in  safety.  An  expression  of  al 
most  comical  chagrin  came  over  his  face, 
for  life  was  nothing  to  him,  and  somewhere 
far  above  the  smoke  a  goodly  welcome 
awaited  him :  that  he  knew.  Men  came 
with  a  stretcher  to  carry  him  off,  but  he 
cursed  them  roundly  and  struggled  to  his 
well  knee.  The  cannon  behind  which  he 
had  fallen  was  about  to  be  discharged. 

"  Give  'em  hell !  "  cried  Hannibal. 

As  he  spoke,  the  piece  was  fired,  and 
leaping  back  on  the  recoil,  as  a  frenzied 
282 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

horse  that  breaks  its  halter,  one  of  the 
wheels  struck  him  a  terrible  blow  on  the 
body,  breaking  all  the  ribs  on  that  side 
and  killing  him  instantly.  His  face  wore 
a  glad  smile,  and  afterward,  when  Aladdin 
found  him  and  took  the  gold  locket  from 
his  pocket,  and  read  the  inscription  writ 
ten,  a  great  wonder  seized  men  : 

July  3,  1863. 

Nunc  dimittis. 
Te  Deum  laudamus. 

Thus  in  one  battle  fell  the  three  strong 
hostages  which  an  old  man  had  given  to 
fortune. 


283 


XXXV 

'T  three  o'clock  the  Union  batteries 
were  ordered  to  be  silent,  for  it 
was  well  known  to  those  in  com 
mand  that  presently  there  would  be  a 
powerful  attack  by  infantry,  for  which  the 
cannonade  was  supposed  to  have  paved 
the  way  with  death  and  disorder,  and  it 
was  necessary  that  the  pieces  should  be 
kept  cool  in  order  to  be  in  efficient  condi 
tion  to  grapple  with  and  suppress  this  at 
tack.  Sometimes  a  regiment,  stung  to  a 
frenzy  of  courage  by  bullets  and  the  death 
of  comrades,  will  rise  from  its  trench  with 
out  the  volition  of  its  officers,  and  go  fran 
tically  forward  against  overwhelming  odds. 
A  different  effect  of  an  almost  identical  psy 
chological  process  is  patience.  Men  will 
sometimes  lie  as  quietly  under  a  rain  of 
bullets,  in  order  to  get  in  one  effective  shot 
284 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

at  an  enemy,  as  cattle  in  the  hot  months 
will  lie  under  a  rain  of  water  to  get  cool. 
It  was  so  now.  The  whole  Union  army 
was  seized  by  a  kind  of  bloody  delibera 
tion  and  lay  like  statues  of  men,  while,  for 
quarter  of  an  hour  more,  the  Confederates 
continued  to  thunder  from  their  guns. 
Now  and  again  a  man  felt  lovingly  the 
long  black  tube  of  a  cannon  to  see  if  its 
temperature  was  falling.  Others  came 
hurrying  from  the  rear  with  relays  of 
powder,  shot,  shell,  and  canister. 

It  seemed  now  to  the  Confederate  lead 
ers  that  the  Union  batteries  had  been 
silenced,  and  that  the  time  had  come  for 
Pickett,  the  Ney  of  the  South,  to  go  for 
ward  with  all  his  forces.  Only  Longstreet 
demurred  and  protested  against  the  charge. 
When  Pickett  asked  him  for  the  order  to 
advance  he  turned  away  his  head  sorrow 
fully  and  would  not  speak.  Then  Pickett, 
that  great  leader  of  men,  who  was  one 
half  daring  and  one  half  magnetism  and 
all  hero,  said  proudly:  "I  shall  go  for 
ward,  sir."  And  turned  to  his  lovers. 

285 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

Silence  and  smoke  hung  over  Gettys 
burg. 

Presently  out  of  the  smoke  on  the 
Confederate  side  came  three  lines  of 
gray  a  mile  long.  Battle-flags  nodded  at 
intervals,  and  swords  blazed  in  the  sun. 

Very  deliberately  and  with  pains  about 
aiming,  the  Union  batteries  began  to  hurl 
solid  shot  against  the  gray  advance. 
Soon  holes  were  bitten  here  and  there, 
and  occasionally  a  flag  went  down,  to  be 
instantly  snatched  up  and  waved  defiantly. 
When  Pickett,  Pettigrew,  and  the  splen 
did  brigade  of  Cadmus  Wilcox  had 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  their 
organization  was  as  unbroken  as  a  parade. 
But  there  shell,  instead  of  round  shot,  met 
them,  and  men  tasted  death  by  fives  and 
tens.  But  the  lines,  drawing  together, 
closed  the  spaces  left  by  mortality,  and  the 
flags  began  to  approach  each  other.  Then 
the  gray  men  began  to  come  up  the  slope, 
and  there  were  thousands  of  them.  But 
shell  yielded  to  canister,  and  the  muskets 
of  the  infantry  sent  out  death  in  leaden 
286 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

showers,  so  that  the  great  charge  began 
to  melt  like  wax  over  heat,  and  the  flags 
hung  close  together  like  a  trophy  of  battle 
in  a  chapel.  But  still  the  gray  men  came. 
And  now,  in  a  storm  of  flame  and  smoke, 
they  reached  the  foremost  cannons  of  the 
Union  line,  and  planted  their  flags.  So 
much  were  they  permitted  for  the  glory 
of  a  lost  cause.  For  a  little,  men  killed 
one  another  with  the  butts  of  guns,  with 
bayonets,  and  with  stones,  and  then,  as 
the  overdrip  of  a  wave  broken  upon  an 
iron  coast  trickles  back  through  the  stones 
of  the  beach  to  the  ocean,  so  all  that  was 
left  of  Pickett's  great  charge  trickled  back 
down  the  slope,  driblets  of  gray,  running 
blood.  For  a  little  while  longer  the  firing 
continued.  Battle-flags  were  gathered, 
and  thrown  together  in  sheaves.  There 
was  a  little  broken  cheering,  and  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  the  great  war  was 
at  an  end. 

Aladdin,  broken  with  grief  and  fatigue, 
went  picking  his  way  among  the  dead  and 
wounded.     He  had  lost  Peter  and  Hanni- 
287 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

bal  in  that  battle,  and  Hamilton  and  John 
were  dead ;  he  alone  remained,  and  it  was 
not  just.  He  felt  that  the  Great  Reaper 
had  spared  the  weed  among  the  flowers, 
and  he  was  bitter  against  the  Great 
Reaper.  But  there  was  one  more  sorrow 
reserved  for  Aladdin,  and  he  was  to  blas 
pheme  against  the  God  that  made  him. 

There  was  still  desultory  firing  from 
both  armies.  As  when,  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  you  set  off  a  whole  bunch  of  fire 
crackers,  there  is  at  first  a  crackling  roar, 
and  afterward  a  little  explosion  here  and 
a  little  explosion  there,  so  Gettysburg 
must  have  sounded  to  the  gods  in  Olym 
pus.  Thunder-clouds  begotten  of  the  in 
tense  heat  rolled  across  the  heavens  from 
east  to  west,  accentuating  the  streaming 
glory  of  the  setting  sun,  and  now  distant 
thunder  rumbled,  with  a  sound  as  of  artil 
lery  crossing  a  bridge.  Drops  of  rain  fell 
here  and 'there. 

Aladdin  heard  himself  called  by  name, 
"'Laddin,  'Laddin." 

288 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

As  quickly  as  the  brain  is  advertised  of 
an  insect's  sting,  so  quickly  did  Aladdin 
recognize  the  voice  and  know  that  his 
brother  Jack  was  calling  to  him.  He 
turned,  and  saw  a  little  freckled  boy,  in  a 
uniform  much  too  big  for  him,  trailing  a 
large  musket. 

"Jack!"  he  cried,  and  rushed  toward 
him  with  outstretched  arms.  "You  little 
beggar,  what  are  you  doin'  here  ? " 

Jack  grinned  like  one  confessing  to  a 
successful  theft  of  apples  belonging  to  a 
cross  farmer.  And  then  God  saw  fit  to 
take  away  his  life.  He  dropped  suddenly, 
and  there  came  a  rapid  pool  of  blood 
where  his  face  had  been.  With  his  arms 
wrapped  about  the  little  figure  that  a  mo 
ment  before  had  been  so  warlike  and  gay, 
Aladdin  turned  toward  the  heavens  a  face 
of  white  flint. 

"  I  believe  in  one  God,  Maker  of  hell !  " 
he  cried. 

Thunder    rumbled   and    rolled    slowly 
across  the  battle-field  from  east  to  west. 
19  289 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

"I  believe  in  one  God,  Maker  of  hell!" 
cried  Aladdin,  "Father  of  injustice  and 
doer  of  hellish  deeds !  I  believe  in  two 
damnations,  the  damnation  of  the  living 
and  the  damnation  of  the  dead." 

He  turned  to  the  little  boy  in  his  arms, 
and  terrible  sobs  shook  his  body,  so  that 
it  appeared  as  if  he  was  vomiting.  After 
a  while  he  turned  his  convulsed  face  again 
to  the  sky. 

"Come  down,"  he  cried,  "come  down, 
you  —  " 

Far  down  the  hill  there  was  a  puff  of 
white  smoke,  and  a  merciful  bullet,  glan 
cing  from  a  rock,  struck  Aladdin  on  the 
head  with  sufficient  force  to  stretch  him 
senseless  upon  the  ground. 

When  the  news  of  Gettysburg  reached  the 
Northern  cities,  lights  were  placed  in  every 
window,  and  horns  were  blown  as  at  the 
coming  of  a  new  year.  Senator  Hanni 
bal  St.  John  had  lost  his  three  boys  and 
the  hopes  of  his  old  age  in  that  terrible 
fight,  but  he  caused  his  Washington  house 
290 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

to    be    illuminated     from    basement    to 
garret. 

And  then  he  walked  out  in  the  streets 
alone,  and  the  tears  ran  down  his  old 
cheeks. 


291 


XXXVI 

<HERE  had  been  a  wedding  in  the 
hospital  tent  Margaret  bent 
over  Peter  and  kissed  him  good- 
by.  She  was  in  deep  black,  and  by  her 
side  loomed  a  great,  dark  figure,  whose 
eyes  were  like  caverns  in  the  depths  of 
which  burned  coals.  The  great,  dark 
man  leaned  heavily  upon  a  stick,  and  did 
not  seem  conscious  of  what  was  going  on. 
The  minister  who  had  performed  the  cere 
mony  stood  with  averted  face.  Every 
now  and  then  he  moistened  his  lips  with 
the  tip  of  his  tongue.  The  wounded  in 
neighboring  cots  turned  pitiful  eyes  upon 
the  girl  in  black,  for  she  was  most  lovely 
—  and  very  sad.  Occasionally  a  throat 
was  cleared. 

"When    you   come,  darling,"   said   the 
292 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

dying  man,  "there  will  be  an  end  of  sor 
row." 

"There  will  be  an  end  of  sorrow," 
echoed  the  girl.  She  bent  closer  to  him, 
and  kissed  him  again. 

"It  is  very  wonderful  to  have  been 
loved, "said  Peter.  Then  his  face  became 
still  and  very  beautiful.  A  smile,  innocent 
like  that  of  a  little  child,  lingered  upon  his 
lips,  and  his  blind  eyes  closed. 

St.  John  laid  his  hand  upon  Margaret's 
shoulder. 

A  man,  very  tall  and  lean  and  homely, 
entered  the  tent.  He  was  clad  in  an  ex 
ceedingly  long  and  ill-fitting  frock-coat. 
Upon  his  head  was  a  high  black  hat,  some 
what  the  worse  for  wear.  He  turned  a 
pair  of  very  gentle  and  pitying  eyes  slowly 
over  those  in  the  tent. 

Aladdin,  his  head  almost  concealed  by 
bandages,  sat  suddenly  upright  in  a  neigh 
boring  cot.  A  wild,  unreasoning  light 
was  in  his  eyes,  and  marking  time  with  his 
hand,  he  burst  suddenly  into  the  "  Battle- 
hymn  of  the  Republic  "  : 

293 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

He  has  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  that  shall  never 
call   retreat ; 

He  is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before  His  judg 
ment-seat  : 

Oh,  be  swift,  my  soul,  to  answer  Him  !  be  jubilant,  my 

feet ! 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 

He  sang  on,  and  the  wounded  joined 
him  with  weak  voices  : 

In  the  beauty  of  the  lilies  Christ  was  born  across  the 

sea, 
With  a  glory  in  His  bosom  that  transfigures  you  and 

me; 
As  He  died  to  make  men  holy,  let  us  die  to  make  men 

free, 
While  God  is  marching  on. 

The  tall  man  who  had  entered,  to  whom 
every  death  was  nearer  than  his  own,  and 
to  whom  the  suffering  of  others  was  as  a 
crucifixion,  removed  the  silk  hat  from  his 
head,  and  wiped  his  forehead  with  a  col 
ored  handkerchief. 

Margaret  knelt  by  Aladdin  and  held  his 
unconscious  form  in  her  arms. 

Outside,  the  earth  was  bathing  in  ex 
quisite  sunshine. 

294 


XXXVII 

T  was  not  long  before  Aladdin 
got  back  the  strength  of  his 
body,  but  the  gray  bullet  which 
had  come  in  answer  to  his  cry  against  God, 
even  as  the  lightning  came  to  Amyas 
Leigh,  in  that  romance  to  which  it  is  so 
good  to  bow,  had  injured  the  delicate  mech 
anism  of  his  brain,  so  that  it  seemed  as  if 
he  would  go  down  to  the  grave  without 
memory  of  things  past,  or  power  upon  the 
hour.  Indeed,  the  war  ended  before  the 
surgeons  spoke  of  an  operation  which 
might  restore  his  mind.  He  went  under 
the  knife  a  little  child,  his  head  full  of  pic 
tures,  playthings,  and  fear  of  the  alphabet; 
he  came  forth  made  over,  and  turned  clear, 
wondering  eyes  to  the  girl  at  his  side. 
And  he  held  her  hand  while  she  bridged 
over  the  years  for  him  in  her  sweet  voice. 

295 


ALADDIN   O'BRIEN 

He  learned  that  she  had  married  Peter, 
making  his  death  peaceful,  and  he  God- 
blessed  her  for  so  doing,  while  the  tears 
ran  down  his  cheeks. 

But  much  of  Aladdin  that  had  slept  so 
long  was  to  wake  no  more.  For  it  was 
spring  when  he  woke,  and  waking,  he  fell 
in  love  with  all  living  things. 

One  day  he  sat  with  Margaret  on  the 
porch  of  a  familiar  house,  and  looked  upon 
a  familiar  river  that  flowed  silverly  beyond 
the  dark  trees. 

Senator  St.  John,  very  old  and  very 
moving,  came  heavily  out  of  the  house, 
and  laid  his  hands  upon  the  shoulders  of 
Margaret  and  Aladdin.  It  was  like  a  ben 
ediction. 

"  I  have  been  thinking,"  said  the  sena 
tor,  very  slowly,  and  in  the  voice  of  an  old 
man,  "  that  God  has  left  some  flowers  in 
my  garden." 

"  Roses?"  said  Aladdin,  and  he  looked 
at  Margaret. 

"  Roses  perhaps,"  said  the  senator,  "  and 
withal  some  bittersweet,  but,  better  than 
296 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

these,  and  more,  he  has  left  me  heart's-ease. 
This  little  flower,"  continued  the  senator, 
"is  sown  in  times  of  great  doubt  and  sor 
row  and  trouble,  and  it  will  grow  only  for 
a  good  gardener,  one  who  has  learned  to 
bow  patiently  in  all  things  to  God's  will, 
and  to  set  his  feet  valiantly  against  the 
stony  way  which  God  appoints.  I  call 
Margaret  'Heart's-ease,'  andl  call  you,  too, 
'Heart's-ease,'  Aladdin,  for  you  are  becom 
ing  like  a  son  to  me  in  my  declining  years. 
Consider  the  river,  how  it  flows,"  said  the 
old  man,  "  smoothly  to  the  sea,  asking  no 
questions,  and  making  no  lamentations 
against  the  length  of  its  days,  and  receiv 
ing  cheerfully  into  the  steadfast  current  of 
its  going  alike  the  bitter  waters  and  the 
sweet." 

We  have  forgotten  Aladdin's  songs  and 
the  tunes  which  he  made,  for  the  people's 
ear  is  not  tuned  to  them  any  more.  But 
that  is  a  little  thing.  It  is  pleasant  to  think 
of  that  night  when,  the  knocking  of  his 
heart  against  his  ribs  louder  than  the 
297 


ALADDIN    O'BRIEN 

knocking  of  his  hand  upon  her  door,  he 
carried  to  Margaret's  side  the  wonderful 
lamp  which,  years  before,  had  been  lighted 
within  him,  and  which,  burning  always, 
now  high,  now  low,  like  the  rising  and 
falling  tides  in  the  river,  had  at  length 
consumed  whatever  in  his  nature  was  lit 
tle  or  base,  until  there  was  nothing  left 
save  those  precious  qualities,  love  and 
charity,  which  fire  cannot  calcine  nor  cold 
freeze. 

Also  it  is  pleasant  to  think  that  little 
children  came  of  their  love  and  sang  about 
their  everlasting  fire. 


298 


